In the gaming industry, it’s the natural order of business for releases to get delayed. Some titles are pushed back by mere weeks and others stretch into months, but general practice is to ensure fans don’t wait too long to get updates to their favorite franchises so that anticipation for releases doesn’t disappear into thin air. While strange, unfortunately, there are a few titles that get delayed for years due to a plethora of reasons, and this unfortunate scenario is oneHellblade 2currently finds itself in. Announced at the same time as the Xbox Series X in 2019,Hellblade 2still finds itself without a definite window for release despite the Series X launching almost immediately after the big announcement.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2had its first trailer drop in 2019, and progress reports were mere whispers until Ninja Theory released a trailer focused on gameplay toward the end of 2021. In fact, before the release of the gameplay trailer, in June 2021, the developers revealedHellblade 2had not yet entered full production, much to the befuddlement of franchise fans. Usually, when titles are announced, unless otherwise stated by the developers, gamers are used to getting the release within a relatively short window of time. Instead,Hellblade 2seems to be stretching the limits as much as possible, just likeForspoken, another title that has endured incessant delaysthroughout its development.
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New Partnership Could Be Causing Hellblade 2’s Delay
A reason for this delay in production could be the new partnership between Microsoft and Ninja Theory. Where the first game, titledHellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, was developed solely by Ninja Theory,Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2is a collaborative project for both developers, with Microsoft set to handle the publishing.Ninja Theoryprided itself on its creative style of artistic freedom, and Microsoft is well-known for its structured approach to releases, so it’s not incomprehensible that this inflection point could cause some misunderstandings in the developmental process.
One would be forgiven for being skeptical aboutSenua’s Saga: Hellblade 2due to this unforeseen union.Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrificegarnered a lot of positive reviewsfrom fans and critics alike, and many expected the franchise to continue on its trajectory to buildHellbladeinto a household name. Combining efforts with a new publisher can add more than a few hurdles for the team along the path to develop the sequel, but early gameplay reveals are encouraging. Despite its strange position,Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2still has the necessary ingredients to get the gaming community interested in its goods.
The franchise has an enthralling story to build upon from the foundations ofSenua’s Sacrifice, where Senua went on a pilgrimage carrying her dead lover’s skull in an attempt to save his soul from the grip of Helheim andthe goddess Hela, despite her journey eventually ending in disappointment. The game was so successful due to its mode of storytelling and unique method of portraying mental health conditions in the eighth century, and from the looks of things,Hellblade 2is retaining those key components.
The content ofHellblade’s story is still largely shrouded in mystery, but the gameplay trailers have enough evidence to suggest there isn’t much radical change coming to the franchise’s storyline. The showcases will have soothed gamers' fears, as there is often a paradigm shift in the direction of a franchise when a new partner gets involved. There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for fans of theHellbladefranchise, thankfully. Ninja Theory recently posted a cryptic Tweet that alluded tonews updates resuming forHellblade 2. Gamers can only hopeHellblade 2releases soon, because while the anticipation for the sequel remains high, some fans do not have the patience to wait much longer for updates.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
