Wednesday, June 17th 2026 New Hellblade Project Was Bait for Potential Ninja Theory Buyers by Cpt.Jank Today, 13:49 Discuss (2 ) We recently reported that Xbox Game Studios is apparently looking to shutter or sell off a handful of its in-house game studios, with Ninja Theory, the studio behind the Hellblade/Senua game franchise being one of the impacted studios. With the news of the potential shuttering, there were questions about the Ninja Theory's new Senua game, which was revealed at an Xbox Showcase less than two weeks ahead of the studio closure rumors. Ostensibly, the new Senua game was meant to be a sequel to Hellblade 2, but according to a recent report by The Game File, Xbox Game Studios already knew about the split with Ninja Theory ahead of the game's reveal in early June 2026. The prevailing theory behind the strategy to continue with the unveiling of Senua is that it would attract buyers when it was eventually revealed that Ninja Theory was being sold off, theoretically increasing the value of the company to a potential buyer, thereby allowing Xbox to recoup its investment in the studio, and making a buyout quicker. When reports surfaced about the upcoming closure or sale of Ninja Theory, it was revealed that the studio received word of its fate on Monday, June 15, 2026, and it is unclear if the machinations behind the Senua announcement were Microsoft's doing or if the leadership at Ninja Theory were also involved. Source: The Game File Related News Tags: 2026 announcement buyout cancel deal details development Game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Industry Layoffs Leak Microsoft Ninja Theory Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Studio Xbox Xbox Game Studios Oct 17th 2025 Microsoft Breaks Localhost with Windows 11 October Update, Users Forced to Revert (105) May 19th 2026 Insider Confirms Sony Ditching PC Ports: "You'll Be Seeing Fewer Single Player Games Arrive on PC." (135) May 26th 2026 NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Drivers 610.47 WHQL Drops Control Panel Support (143) Mar 7th 2026 PlayStation 6 Leak Tips 4K 120 FPS "In Most Games" With 6-12× RT Performance of PS5 (116) Mar 21st 2026 Microsoft Promises Slew of Windows 11 Changes in Response to "Microslop" Criticisms (208) Apr 18th 2026 Pragmata Launch: Glowing Reviews and Chart-Topping Sales but Mediocre Player Counts (62) Jul 30th 2025 ASUS ROG Xbox Ally Pre-Order Date and Pricing Leak Ahead of Apparent Gamescom Launch (8) Dec 18th 2025 Half-Life 3 May Launch Alongside Steam Machine in Early 2026 (78) Jun 7th 2026 Microsoft Announces Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition, Available in November (33) Feb 4th 2026 AMD Confirms Steam Machine in Early 2026, Xbox SoC Powered by RDNA 5 in 2027 (52) Add your own 2 on New Hellblade Project Was Bait for Potential Ninja Theory Buyers #1 Solaris17 Super Dainty Moderator Cpt.Jankand it is unclear if the machinations behind the Senua announcement were Microsoft's doing or if the leadership at Ninja Theory were also involved.Or if this article has any substance whatsoever. Rumors as news is wack #2 bonehead123 Maybe it's just me, but alot of games nowadays seem like slight offtakes of rehashes of previous rehashes of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd rehashes of the originals... The characters, the costumes/outfits/weapons, the scenarios (kill him, kill her, & kill everyone over & over, & then do it again), the lighting & effects all seem so similar that it's really hard to tell one from the other.. In other words: y/A/w/N....
