400°

Xbox Acquired Hellblade Developer Ninja Theory for $117 Million

According to FTC filings, Microsoft acquired Ninja Theory for $117 million.

Obscure_Observer304d ago

Ninja Theory is made of very talented and passionate developers.

I´m glad that saw that studio´s potential and chose it to be part of the Xbox family!

Now under Xbox they´re AAA and has all the freedom and resources in the world to deliver amazing games for us!

Thank you Phil and Tameem Antoniades.

blackblades304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

Stop slurping in public

RpgSama304d ago

He is getting out of hand lately, he took it to 11 now.

Army_of_Darkness304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

@Obscure_Observer

"oh thank you so much Xbox! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! I bend the knee for you my lord!" 🤣🤣

Ninja theory is okay. Not great.

Elda304d ago

LOL!! That's the behavior & words from a true fanatic.

Crows90304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

The potential??? Remind us all who they've tapped their potential? What new IP are they working on???

Oh wait...that's right. They needed a cinematic story driven IP ...hellblade was well received so they bought them for peanuts.

And let's see.. what are they currently working on and to what scope compared to before??

Basically the same game but #2
Similar situation to the tomb raider sequel except this time they made this sequel a permanent exclusive.

Knushwood Butt304d ago

Maybe Bleeding Edge was the potential.

Crows90304d ago

@knush

Oh crap you're right. Lol that thing was definitely a result of the Microsoft acquisition.

4Sh0w304d ago

Ninja Theory has alot of potential, but Hellblade 2 needs more action gameplay before I get excited. They did well with Heavenly Sword & DMC games so hopefully we'll see a full blown new action IP from them after H2.

Crows90304d ago

@4sh0W

Just imagine what they could do...people falsely claiming hellblade 2 is like god of war...Heavenly sword, which was a playstation exclusive, was more in competition with god of war.

Obscure_Observer304d ago

"Oh wait...that's right. They needed a cinematic story driven IP ...hellblade was well received so they bought them for peanuts."

MS paid $117 million for Ninja Theory which at the time was an indie studio made of only 20 people.

Sony paid $229 million for Insomniac which at the time were made of 400 employees.

That was a steal! Lol!

"And let's see.. what are they currently working on and to what scope compared to before??"

The original Hellblade was developed and produced by only 20 people (Melinda included).

As an Xbox first party studio, Ninja Theory has now 200+ employees and Hellblade II will be full AAA game powered by UE5. In term of scope, the original Hellblade only features only small areas to explore, while in Hellblade II gamers will be allowed to explore all areas of Iceland.

"Basically the same game but #2"

Lol. You´re in for a major shock! XD

Crows90303d ago

@obscure

There will be shock...but It think itll be all over you.
The same but number 2 wasnt meant as an insult. I liked the first one..so I know I'll like the second. You probably didnt care for the first one for a couple of reasons.

1. They were you referred to it as a small indie game
2. It wasnt an xbox exclusive

Youll be in shock when its pretty much the same but number 2. Number 2 of any game is ALWAYS bigger.
God of War Ragnarok is essentally God of War but number 2. Same kind of game but bigger in scope.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 303d ago
304d ago
304d ago
neutralgamer1992304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

Obscure

You really think he gives a damn about you or me thanking him? Seriously man does it not bother you at all that you are such a huge fanboy of Xbox and your comments come across like cult members

Be a gamer for gaming these corporations don’t care about any of us. We are dollar signs to them

On topic

I am glad for NT because their last game they struggled so much just to complete it and companies even provided equipment just for them to get the work done. Now they have peace of mind with resources they need. Hopefully they can naturally grow into a bigger studio and make some amazing games

Godmars290304d ago

They're mid tier devs at best. Failed to nail one of their biggest shots with Heavenly Sword, went way over their weight limit with DMC: DmC, and got lucky with apparent one-shot, B title Hellbalde. Which MS expects them to make into a franchise?

I'll just wait for the first "Hellbalde better than GOW" article. Cause that's going to be fun...

4Sh0w304d ago

Salt, Salt, Salt is basically all you said.

Vengeance1138304d ago

Mid developer remains mid lol Wake me up when they actually put out something half decent haha

porkChop304d ago

It's funny how no one called them mid tier until Xbox acquired them. People loved Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, Hellblade, etc, but now they're suddenly mid tier? Touch grass.

MadLad304d ago

@porkchop

I mean, you called it out first and you're not wrong.
DmC definitely got the shaft, yet it was successful and a good game. The closest thing they ever released to be considered "mid" was Heavenly Sword.

Lightning77304d ago

It's Bad now but great here. https://n4g.com/news/208826...

Even saying support Hell Blade because Shadow Of Wars Microtransactions.

Scroll down a little bit and you'll even see Obscures comment. He may be A hardcore Xbox fanboy but at least he's consistent here. Can't say the same in these comment sections.

304d ago
1nsomniac304d ago

While the corporate xbox ass licking is as pathetic as it gets. How is it any different to the Sony usuals in here that sprout this pathetic crap on a daily basis!

They both need to get filtered elsewhere so the grown ups can talk like adults.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 303d ago
P_Bomb304d ago

I wonder if they’ll ever reboot Enslaved?

shinoff2183304d ago

I liked enslaved I felt it was one of their better games

Sonic1881304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

Enslaved was just mediocre. So I doubt they'll bring that back. Tbh most of their games were mediocre including Hellblade. That felt like a walking simulator

Knightofelemia304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

Enslaved was a sleeper hit which it was and is still a great game to play. If a person who missed out on it I would say snag it off Ebay and play it. It's still one of my favorite games.

Melankolis304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

It was a good game, but....just good, not great nor it interesting. Maybe the background of the characters aren't well told, lack of lore, just start and play. I gave it 8. Good but easily forgettable. Yeah you may call it mediocre. NT is quite talented, but they lack something.

Sonic1881304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

@Knight

I never felt like their games were great. Just solid or mediocre but that's my opinion. I am still interested in playing Hellblade 2 on PC because of the graphics. I think this game is going to look fantastic on PC

mkis007304d ago

Damn this really puts into perspective yet again how good a deal sony got for insomniac...the workhorse of the industry at this point.

Aloymetal304d ago

That was the 1st thing that came to my mind, Sony got Insomniac for pennies and they've been pumping out great games since this gen started nonstop. Amazing.

MEGANE304d ago

Yes but any winnings there they lost on bungie, imo.

mkis007304d ago

I somewhat disagree. They bought Bungie for the expertise. The largest chunk of Bungie was for talent retention; they paid more to make sure everyone stayed at Bungie. Sony wants talent, IP's are just a bonus because they know they can and will create more.

__SteakDeck__304d ago (Edited 304d ago )

@MEGANE I know I’m going to get downvoted to hell, because this is n4g and people here hate GAAS games. But how the hell did they lose on Bungie? Do you know how much money Destiny will bring and Marathon will bring? Lol

MEGANE303d ago

I get it, but a couple Billion more and they could have bought square enix… a publisher full of IPs… I don’t disagree with acquiring bungie but 3.5 billion and sony can’t even dictated exclusivity? Please.

PhillyDonJawn304d ago

They have High potential. Add some good combat mechanics and action to go with the graphics and story telling. Ad you got a mega hit.

304d ago
Show all comments (50)
160°

Steam’s Refund Policy Change Won’t Affect You Unless You’re A Lowlife

Steam is changing its refund policy, but you probably won’t be affected

Read Full Story >>
thegamer.com
thorstein5h ago

Should have happened a long time ago. People wanting refunds after 50 hours in game.

fsfsxii1h ago

Pc gamers will take this as an excuse to pirate things

KyRo1h ago

I'm not sure why you're getting disgrees. Whilst not all PC gamers are petty, an awful lot of them are lol

Crows9059m ago

Entirely untrue. Not any more petty than console gamers. The only large difference is console gamers don't have much of a choice.

qalpha1h ago

Daily reminder that 'TheGamer' is a corporate-generated, anti-gamer, anti-consumer, clickbait web site. They are mostly A.I. generated articles that villainize gamers. They provide nothing positive and actively try to provoke and divide the community through extreme view points and politics. Do not give them any clicks.

Inverno1h ago

Only scumbags? As if people don't play their games on console put in the most amount of hours and return it to GameStop and trade it in for another game. But also how many people are actually do this? And what games have been allowed to be refunded?

DustMan1h ago

You can refund any game you've purchased as long as it hasn't been longer than two weeks, and you've played less than 2 hours. I wish they would change it to 3 hours because some RPG's have so much exposition that you may only get an hour total of complete gameplay. That's my only knock on it. I've refunded plenty of stuff I was just curious to try. I typically stay away from Early Access titles which are the only ones affected by this policy change.

Inverno18m ago

Apparently early access doesn't count, only complete games with a play early preorder bonus.

Gaming4Life19811h ago

I definitely know if I want a refund in 2 hours.

100°

Media Molecule’s Next Game is Going to be a New IP

A job listing published by the UK studio reveals that its next project will be another entirely new IP.

Read Full Story >>
gamingbolt.com
Inverno20h ago

The only PlayStation dev I care about tbh.

Inverno1h ago

Dayum did I hit a nerve. Sorry for not liking most of this gens games coming from PS, not really doe.

Cacabunga20h ago

Hopefully doesn’t take them a complete gen to release it

TheColbertinator15h ago

Good. Something not boring, not one of those "make your own game" crap and also on Steam would be nice.

Stopac13h ago

I too like to look for things in the wrong places.

110°

Outriders Dev's Next Game Has Been Canceled After Publishing Agreement With Take-Two Fell Through

Outriders developer People Can Fly's next game has been canceled after its publishing agreement with Take-Two Interactive fell through.

Read Full Story >>
twistedvoxel.com
Tacoboto2d ago

"the capital group of PCF Group S.A."

If you're getting funding from a group that needs two different ways of Acronyming itself, things will not go the way you want them to.

banger881d 18h ago

If it was more online-only crap then good riddance.

jjb19811d 4h ago

Outriders was crap. They slapped that game together and threw in a loot system to get players' attention. This game was absolutely jank and the always online nonsense made it stutter like crazy. People Can't Optimize.

thorstein1d 3h ago

I liked Outriders but I could see where the artistic vision was compromised. The way the industry is now, it wouldn't surprise me that upper management would scrap something that didn't pull in money via gaas, mts, or other means.