A bleak, unmissable sequel and a brave exploration of loss, hope, and psychosis.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is an action-adventure game developed by Ninja Theory. Players will return to Senua's story through a brutal journey of survival through the myth and torment of Viking Iceland. Take a look at the latest trailer to garner the critical reception of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, available now for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC (Steam).
Cool, but the studio will get shut down still I think. Idc if MS said they won't, MS can't be trusted with anything.
They're extremely volatile with their words and action. They say one thing and do another consistently.
I'm curious about the specific language used regarding Ninja Theory's fate.
I've read secondhand accounts that mention Microsoft has "no plans to close Ninja Theory any time soon", which has some asterisks attached—namely because that article came out the day Hellblade II launched and there was no proper assessment of the game's performance relative to Microsoft's expectations. If they planned for the game to have a certain level of success and they missed the mark, that could trigger a change of plans. As well, if the talent they are most interested in leaves (I speculate this was the case with Mikami leaving Tango), that may well result in a change of plans too.
It wouldn't be fair to close them for not selling very well or increasing XGP subs to the level they expect. Ninja Theory has never been a gangbuster studio. The level of attention and care is absolutely there for their games, but they just don't perform well commercially. They never have, and if Microsoft closes them after acquiring them with the expectation that changes, that is just unfair.
But that said, they haven't been closed at this time and I don't want to accuse Microsoft of something they haven't done yet. I do expect it, but it hasn't happened. The recent closures came about a year after the most recent releases, so I guess we'll know better in 2025.
“MS can't be trusted with anything.
They're extremely volatile with their words and action.”
When gamers learn that Microsoft is a giant corporation run but executives who have a fiduciary duty to make money for shareholders.
It's not always about pleasing the lawyer Americans with the Brooklyn accent even if they live in LA. Microsoft could still keep the studio to make it look like they have more than just regular shooters. Alfredo sauce might not be as popular as marinara sauce on pizza but I sure am glad it's an option. This trillion dollar company needs to learn if its about supporting quality studios or cutting them off just because it didn't do spiderman numbers. I'm sure they would still be a trillion dollar company if they keep Ninja Theory, and also kept Arkane and Tango.
That's all companies. It's just that MS when it comes to this particular instance can't be trusted. Not after what they did to Tango.
That's pretty much the case the words never match with their actions with Microsoft. Well it's one of those things it will depend on how well Hellblade 2 does. Even their founder left recently but he was planning on leaving from the sounds of it.
Melatonin 10/10 - "puts you to sleep"
Unisom 8/10 - "side effects include boredom, but puts you to sleep overall"
Zzzquil 7/10 - "6 hours of barely any gameplay, leaves a sour taste in your mouth, but helped patients fall asleep"
Quviviq 10/10 - "helped patients fall asleep and stay asleep"
Zolpidem 10/10 - helped patients form a more healthy sleeping pattern"
Zolpidem extended release 10/10 - "fast working sleep medicine. Recommended to take 1 hour before bedtime for full 8 hour uninterrupted sleep"
Hellblade 2 is so good at putting players to sleep, that doctors will now prescribe it to you, if you suffer from poor sleeping habits.
I forgot to include
Triazolam 9/10 - "you'll sleep longer than the game's story length"
Sony's upcoming video game line up looks so lame and boring I figure PlayStation gamer's should all sleep like newborn babies.
Why are you mad? Aren't those the high review scores you Xbox fans were looking forward to? Maybe now, Ms won't shut them down.
@The3faces
I honestly think Astrobot and Phantom Blade 0 look better gameplay wise than anything I've seen from Xbox this year.
Relax man. It is just a joke and a funny one at that. Nobody played the game despite the "accolades" and being on Game Pass. It wasn't even in the Top 100 games sold during its release. 90% did not even finish the game despite being so short... Hmmm, on second thought maybe it isn't a joke after all. People did fall asleep. LOL
The only thing this game does better than the original is the graphics. The combat is slower, more simplistic, and believe it or not, more repetitive. The combat even has a free win button with the left trigger glyph activation.
You only fight one enemy at a time now as well so the fights take too long too. Sometimes you fight the same enemy 8 times in a row.
The voices in your head are no longer antagonist that make you doubt yourself, they're now cheerleaders. So even that part of the game is worse.
As for the main antagonist, the Giants. Hell Blade 2 decided to remove the ambiguity of the enemies in this game. Where in the first game, you weren't sure if the enemies are demons you are fighting are really men or just conjured illusions overlaying their visage due to your psychosis.
In this game demons are real and Giants are real. This was hammered home ny one of her colleagues (the priest with the weak chin) seeing the first Giant and hitting it with a thrown spear to chase it off. So the Giants are definitely corporeal being.
Now, having the Giants being established as corporeal beings, you NEVER even get to actually fight one!! I can't believe they never found a way to have an actual set piece battle ala God of War. What a massive disappointment.
This game had massive potential but they fumbled in every way possible. Other than the graphics. Even the puzzles are worse than the first game.
played hellblade 2 for 1 hour before i got tired of it. it just was not fun. And not being able to finish a 7 hour game really says something.
I play games to have fun and enjoy my time, not to get bored and depressed, those developers need to go back to the 80s/90s and understand why we had video games in the first place.
I really enjoyed it for what it was and glad there are some studios out there happily doing their own thing with a unique vision rather than just making the game people seem to think they should make. I loved the first one, had a great time with this one and hopefully there will be a third.
Well I gave it a try. A solid one. I just cannot bring myself to continue. I work 10 hour days and when I get home I want to enjoy myself. I could literally play almost anything and have more fun. Sadly the only reason I say almost is because Steam has some insanely terrible games on there but at the same time, they cost .89¢. I keep telling myself I’ll go back to it but why would I? If I have the time to play Hellblade 2 I also have time to play Dave the diver. 🤔 Dave wins. Hellblade or Tekken 8? Yeah Tekken. Old ass Valorant on console now? Yep, Valorant. Still haven’t finished that second playthrough of Baldurs gate or go ahead and finish the FIRST playthrough of Hellblade 2? Time to hit the gate.
I wouldn’t be able to deal with all of the loading. That’s been fixed for a couple generations now. But I will say it looks like a better game than HB2 , whatever that’s worth
Like clockwork...knew it would be ign though. Whenever a game isn't selling like it should...
Game sales in Europe were low, and even big names such as Hellblade 2 did not feature on the Top 100 list.
Don't think it was a failure for Microsoft, since they already approved Hellblade 3...
What metrics do you think Microsoft uses to measure success. Do you think that a game costing $80 million can sell no copies and drive no GamePass adoption after 5 years of development and warrant a sequel? I would be surprised to see this series continue.
Sure that just wasn’t for show though after Tango and Arkane got shut down
Shows they are committed and squashes any potential rumours after more shutdowns
Not saying that’s true of course but it’s a hypothetical tactic
Microsoft claims Arkane Austin is not currently in danger of closing following Redfall
https://www.shacknews.com/a...
Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda
https://www.ign.com/article...
Remember this is the company that said "By all metrics" Hi-Fi Rush was super successful. That game had a lower budget, spent less time in development, and was universally acclaimed.
@Enhainder
"Microsoft claims Arkane Austin is not currently in danger of closing following Redfall"
What improvements did Arkane Austin Studio bring to Redfall since then?
Have you thought about the numerous changes that can occur over a ten-month span?
Should I remind you of the image where Jim Ryan was conversing with the wonderful people at LondonStudio shortly before their shutdown?
https://www.giantbomb.com/a...
@lelo2play
Oh no of course not, because things that apply to everyone else do NOT apply to MS.
And Why? Because MS said so.
I said it so many times: Ninja Theory should go independent and cooperate with big Japanese publishers like capcom or sega or even playstation to remake or reboot some of their hidden treasure IPs.
Did they though. Out of all the gaming companies. Ms is one I'd take everything they say with a grain of salt.
I wouldn't call it "unfortunate" because there isn't much of a luck component here. It was never going to sell well, being available on Game Pass and being a type of game that historically doesn't have a strong showing on Xbox— and this is not in Xbox's best market and the game might be too costly for what it is, even at the lower-than-usual MSRP.
It seemed like an inevitability, honestly.
Frankly, Ninja Theory has always been niche—their most notable game was probably Heavenly Sword, and that was probably because it stood out as a launch game for PS3. They're not really a sequel studio. They usually aim to tell a story and move on. I haven't played the sequel, but another Hellblade probably won't be able to catch people as the first did because it grappled with some tough themes. They lose that brave new frontier of exploration with sequels.
Heavenly sword deserved a sequel and imo Ninja Theory would be thriving if they were under Sony.
thejigisup,
I believe it had a sequel planned at some point, didn't it? Not likely to happen now since Sony owns the IP and Microsoft owns the company behind it, though it is always possible that Sony outsources it to another studio.
I wasn't a fan of the gameplay personally (always a big point of issue with me and Ninja Theory games) but they are absolutely a talented lot.
They did really like Heavenly Sword apparently since it got more media than any other Ninja Theory game that I can think of. Usually it's a game and that's it, but I definitely remember a Heavenly Sword movie being on Netflix.
The stupidest lie ever told that gets ridiculous backlash by the gp advocates when questioned
This was a game being dragged on with 0 advertisement then was tossed out with everyone talking about how the game is 80% cut scenes/walking. Gamepass did nothing to hurt its sales
Gamepass is the only good way to play this game as it is not with the asking price atm.
There has to be a reason why MS is prioritizing GP over total sales. They are a business; their top priority is to make money.
"There has to be a reason why MS is prioritizing GP over total sales. They are a business; their top priority is to make money."
Traditional model was not working for them so now they are prioritizing GamePass in hopes that they will one day get enough subscribers to make up for any losses. It's the long game they are playing. They need to get those subscribers in a timely manner though.
@thenameless
The reason is that MS ends up getting more money out of consumers who sign up to GP. Because people buy GP, then end up paying for games not on offer while their amount of gaming remains the same. On average people signed up to service are paying more per year to play the same amount of games.
Meanwhile, the devs who release on GP make less money because their games dont sell copies. They get a lump sum payment from GP, thus no incentive to create anything special.
You folks continuously attack Gane Pass, yet, never bring alternative draws to the forefront.
Let's pretend Game Pass is discontinued. Then what? What's going to be the draw to XBOX? Asking for a friend.
@Willbo47
"You folks continuously attack Gane Pass, yet, never bring alternative draws to the forefront.
Let's pretend Game Pass is discontinued. Then what? What's going to be the draw to XBOX? Asking for a friend."
Nintendo and Sony seem to have a working solution. Something I think they call continuously making great games? Maybe they should try that?
They say that then after every major release they also say they are disappointed in sales. Can't have it both ways.
What they want to do is have you buy gamepass then buy early access DLC so you don't own the game but you can rent it a week early and then own the content for the game you don't own later so you'll re-subscribe to play the DLC you brought when it comes
@XiNatsu: “Oh dang that's unfortunate”
.
What did you expect a roaring success when the first one was multi platform and PAID FOR IN CASH while the second was exclusively on the lowest scaling console and on a subscription service for the price of a premium water bottle.
I'm sure Microsoft will have it stitched up for awards given their partner IGN has bought everyone.
Walking sims are just aren't my thing. I don't care who was behind the game. The original was never a top seller and with how Xbox is now the sequel to an already niche IP simply never stood a chance.
This game is the perfect marketing stunt and MS is so good at it. The game got a ton of publicity due to its intensive use of meatehuman features of UE 5. So at some point it was on everybody's mouth. Once the game released everybody realized the obvious, this thing is not a game is a graphic demo sold at a price (if you are not on GP). I did download it and gave it a try. The game remained on my M2 for not more than 2 hours. Unfortunatelly, for as much as people say the graphic is pretty (I do not like it ... and do not tell me that the color palette reflects the mental state of the protagpnist) there is no gameplay to talk of. MS only needs to make noise ... but it is all smoke and no substance.
Exactly zeek
This is just a game that failed on its own not gamepass fault but the lack of advertisement did not help also.
Why advertise if it was just gonna be downloaded on gamepass though. We know Xbox players don't buy games, and this games doesn't seem worth the asking price. So advertising would have just been throwing more money on the fire pit. Also it was advertised a little.
I mean they did remove Hellblade from Hellblades biggest console market. MS purchased two multiplatform publishers who's products sell far better on competing hardware and their rental service is cannibalising sales of new releases, low sales thanks to MS are of no surprise.
I just hope we don't see more studio closures and thousands more fired because MS's greed.
Not on Playstation, they are selling well. Not on Switch they are selling well, but Xboxgamers dont like "walking simulators".
I was thinking selling compared to other big games, but I'm a PS5 gamer so you do have a point.
hellblade 2 was a boring game plain and simple, all grfx no substance, the first one was entertaining, this one was not
Here whe go again..according to fandomwire: " sales are low in the Gamingindustry". I strongly disagree. Sales are great on Playstation the games are selling great. Sales are low on Xbox, thats a fact. But MS keeps pushing GamePass. And hurting theyr sales....Thats the truth. What is it with all does "gamingsites" that the gamingindustry is in troubel, because that far from the truth. Sony is doing fine. Nintendo is doing fine. Steam is doing fine.....Microsoft, ore more precisly Xbox is not and thats theyr own fault....
Yeah, just take a look at a game like Stellar Blade. Brand new IP from a first-time console game developer and it sells over a million copies on PS5 alone.
Stellar Blade is definitely the better game compared to Hellblade 2. Stellar Blade deserves more sales.
Let's thank gamepass for that. Oh wait. Ninja Theory time is almost up
MS revealed they closed Tango due to an exodus of OG talent there. It had nothing to do with sales but more to do with the little chance there was of repeating success with different talent.
Sales still wouldn't do any better, word of mouth is that the game is boring. If MS were to release it on disc it'll probably cost $60 why would anyone pay $60 for a 5 hr boring game.
You’re speculating. You have no idea how much they would charge, and it’s fun factor by “word of mouth” seems anecdotal to you. I haven’t heard much either way.
Most PS5 owners have already watched hellblade 2 by now so who's the port for ?
I guess there was the same talk over at arcane Austin of porting the game to the PS5 to save the studio hahahaha
The truth is the light. Most folks say it's boring, bringing it to the PS5 digital only won't boost any significant sales nor would it sell well if it was physical copies due to the increase in price. No one is talking about Hellblade 2 in a positive light including the game is already forgotten about, most folks are playing other games.
For a big high profile Xbox First Party game people have been waiting 7 years for to not make a top 100 sold games in the month it was released is insanely bad.
This game didn't even reach the top 20 most played games on xbox, it peaked in the mid 20's then dropped like a rock.
This also includes Steam sales where is also completely failed, and it was a budget priced title as well.
It's easy to see Ninja Theory on the short list of the next round of studio closings.
Gamepass effect.
Everyone tried it on Gamepass and hated it, so of course low sales.
From previous article (written 3 weeks ago now).
https://www.trueachievement...
" only 13% of players make it through to the end of Hellblade 2, which only takes around seven hours to do, is disappointing. Interestingly, if we head on over to Steam, things are only marginally better, with 37% of Steam players unlocking End the Tyranny."
"only 52% of Hellblade 2 Xbox players made it past the first boss and unlocked The Next Sign achievement. You encounter Hellblade 2's first boss after about 30 minutes, and he's not exactly hard to beat, so for nearly half of the game's players to not even make it that far, is pretty baffling"
Its all a bit sad really.
There is an old addage that goes: swine do not know the value of a pearl....or something along those lines. If you used to swill you not going to enjoy dining on al la carte meals.
Much of the blame for the game's marketing and promotion falls on Microsoft Studios. They could have invested in impactful marketing strategies, such as featuring people with disabilities playing the game or launching a mental health awareness campaign. Alternatively, they could have emulated Playstation's approach with the Calisto Protocol by extensively advertising on YouTube and television. The point is, Microsoft had numerous opportunities to spark interest in the game, yet they failed to take action.
Port this to PS5 and I'll buy it on D1, I really enjoyed the first one so I'm waiting for this 🥸
Lol...of course the sales aren't going to be great when it's available on gamepass. I enjoyed the game. It's really good. I hope they fo a part 3.
Hellblade 2 is on Gamepass including imo Hellblade 2 is a borefest those factors are the reason the game didn't sell well. I wouldn't doubt MS wants to put the digital only game on other platforms, if so I doubt sales would be any better. If MS doesn't can Ninja Theory, the developers should work on an interesting action title instead of doing another boring Hellblade that'll take another 5 to 7 years to release.
Another fail for Phil and his boys. Perhaps the best gigs in gaming. #noaccountability
I hope Sony keeps this game far away from the PlayStation5 and refuse a port to its platform.
The weakest link here is actually Ninja Theory, so I don't wanna be ill towards them.
But first Microsoft buying them up (which I don't criticize), then deciding to put Hellblade 2 exclusively, splitting the fan base in half, only to fill their lackluster support on 1st parties, now failing in sales due to GP and then maybe crawling back to PS to earn at least some revenue out of my pocket:
I support your idea and hope Sony will decline the offer!
The sad part is, if the game does come to PS5, it will likely sell more than on its home console. Simply because many people don’t read gaming news and will just see a new game on offer, and/or remember they played the original years ago.
I would say Sony would accept. I would also see it as yet another example of pushing Ms closer to 3rd party. I was fine with buying an xbox for some games I might like , etc but I was pretty pissed when they bought up a good portion of wrpgs developers.
I actually do have game pass and have absolutely no interest in even trying this. I cannot imaging anyone actually buying it. I doubt it would’ve fare better on PS5-even though walking simulators do perform better there-this one is extra walky.
I subscribed to Gamepass just to play Hellblade 2, I'm pretty sure others did aswell. I'm really enjoying it too.
Why would anyone buy the game when you could play it and finish it in a few days on Gamepass for 1/5th of the full cost?
This Just in 40 million walks along the beach at the beginning. (we are happy and pleased from ms).
Gamepass works one way open the game up to a cheaper alternative to playing the game. But that will hurt game sales and most of the time when someone finishes the game they are done with it. And I doubt someone who all ready played the game on Gamepass will shell out the money to buy the game. Only a diehard fan would do that. And from what I saw I didn't like the game I hate walking simulators and I wasn't a fan of the first game. So will Microsoft put this game on another platform to try and recoup some of their money? I wonder if the will be more marketing for the game if it goes onto another platform?
Ninja Theory has released 2 games since Microsoft purchased them and both no matter the metrics you use are complete and total waste of time dumpster fires. Though it should be said Microsoft did get Ninja Theory on the cheap, bargain basement, $5 garbage bin price so closing them down will cause them "Microsoft" no harm.
All that said we can now say we know what happens when you allow crazy people....and to be clear "Crazy People are the folks that run Ninja Theory"....the money to make more than one game....it doesn't end well.
Maybe now that crazy lady that was the force behind HellBlade the original can get the help she needs.
Xbox games weren’t selling very well before Gamepass. They totally fell off the cliff when gamepass came out.
I've read most of the comments and I have to ask: why do people call this game an utter bore when the first one was lauded and nominated for several awards? Since the majority seem to think this game is terrible, fine
. Here's the complete gameplay of the first one, and here's the complete gameplay of the second one. Can you tell me what's so different?
https://youtu.be/9EgubmL1z3...
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
the time to complete?
the style of the puzzle?
how pressing forward feels different on the Playstation controller versus the Xbox controller
When the game was exclusive to PlayStation, it was considered a masterpiece and received numerous nominations including GAME OF THE YEAR Now, this one is deemed a failure for Phil and his team. What exactly has changed?
https://www.imdb.com/title/...
Here is DreamcastGuy's honest opinion on both games to understand precisely what has changed.
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice
https://youtu.be/-UawF5JQuA...
Hellblade 2
https://youtu.be/go63wo6uCX...
But hey you tell me :)
I already highlighted the issue by pointing out Xbox's outdated marketing strategies. It becomes even more evident considering that many people have brought this to Microsoft's attention.
(I could highlight the same problems concerning the PSVR2's poor sales and the total lack of marketing efforts)
But my question is related to how come the 1st game is considered a great game worthy of 12 awards and 21 nominations while this one is considered (according to comments here) a turd?
The game was an average title on Playstation. 8.1 meta score, 7.8 user score (all the negative reviews mention boring gameplay) and sold around a million on ps4. When it released on xbox it instantly became one of the best games on xbox, (8.8 metacritic score, most xbox sites gave it 100 lol) maybe that's what you are thinking of?
The original game received an average Metascore of 8.1 and was either awarded or nominated for numerous accolades, totaling 12 wins and 21 nominations.
https://www.metacritic.com/...
https://www.imdb.com/title/...
You perfectly highlight that negative reviews mentioned boring Gameplay (So it was present)
Fast Foward today
Hellblade 2 Metactritics scoring 8.0 (bought by MS according to many) with the same negative complaints
https://www.metacritic.com/...
But according to many, this game is garbage and a pure letdown
Here is N4G's reaction when the initial game came out
https://n4g.com/news/208826...
and just read this comment section to see the difference
So again Fine if this game sucks.... then what makes the 1st one so great and fun?
I found them both quite similar and are like any walking simulator you can find on PC.
Like i said before. This is expected because xbox just had a really good showcase. They have to find something to try and drown out the positive reaction to that show. You can expect similar stuff like this throughout the summer. More articles about doom and gloom for Microsoft and gamepass when we all know they don't know what they're talking about. According to some of them gamepass is supposed to be gone already because Microsoft can't sustain the losses...lol They have their fingers crossed hoping that NT will get closed.
Actually if you go back to some of those showcase articles. Alot of us Sony fans were saying it was good, etc. Truth with this game it just isn't cutting it, Ms has also brought all this doom and gloom on themselves by releasing first party titles on ps5. Gamepass is also not good for the industry as a whole Ms has acknowledged and said it kills game sales. That's straight from the horses mouth. You can't deny it. So continue to spew the bs but this is all brought on by Ms
Just goes to show gamepass hurts sales it also contributes to studio closures the proof is in the pudding. It might be a great deal for gamers but not so much for studios
The ONLY problem in this scenario is the game that was made...its terrible. I downloaded it so I could get achievements for the extra Microsoft points...uninstalled after one chapter. The game is so dreadfully boring.
"This is GSD figures, which tracks all digital game sales from most major publishers (Nintendo data is absent), and physical game sales in all major European markets."
"The No.1 selling game in May this year was EA Sports FC 24, followed by Grand Theft Auto 5. F1 2024 races in at No.3. The PC release of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut sends the PlayStation game up to No.4."
"11.6 million PC and console games were sold across European markets in May. Compared with the same five week period in 2023, that's a drop of nearly 17%."
"Hellblade 2, System Shock Remake, and the Rogue Prince of Persia all missing out on the Top 100."
I need an xbox fan to explain to me how Hellblade didn't even enter the top 100 since Game Pass doesn't effect sales and you guys are all just using the service as a trial to buy the games later.... /s (for sigh)
Also tell me again how 3.5 M sales first month for FF was bad...
If Microsoft didn't buy the developer this could have been a multiplatform game and if they wanted they still could have got it day 1 on Game Pass.
If I worked at Ninja Theory I'd be sprucing up my resume right about now.
Think it's pretty obvious to most that Hellblade 2 was a flop, it was setup to fail by skipping playstation and being sent to die on gamepass, especially on a platform where they openly mock playstation 'movie games', this being way more movie than any PS game.
But in defense of GP and HB2:
If the Game Pass strategy is continuesly working out and drawing in new subscriptions, wether monthly nor yearly ones, then lower box office sales ARE the logical consequence.
I sure wouldn't have expected HB2 missing even the Top 100, but if I would have wanted to try it out, I would have rather subscribed for a month than buying it.
I understand what Microsoft is trying to do with game pass.
But I guess the point is that this game had a five or six year dev cycle, the revenue this game needs to generate to cover the cost of it's creation is high. There is a zero percent chance that Hellblade 2 brought in enough subscribers to offset the loss of sales or pay for it's creation and the continued developmental costs of other game pass games in development.
Keep in mind as I recall this game didn't even make it into the top 20 most popular games on the xbox platform. And on Steam it was equally if not more unsuccessful with very low sales and player counts..
This is the whole problem and why Microsoft is closing studios and putting games on other devices, they aren't generating enough profits to maintain developmental costs.
" I would have rather subscribed for a month than buying it."
Well yea, that's how everyone thinks, that's the problem $9 vs $50 so Microsoft needs to attract 5 people to game pass for every single sale. But it's more complicated because they also have to pay for things like the monthly games they add to the service as well as continual developmental costs.
it's a sustainability problem.
@Einhander1972
No worries, I get you.
I personally dislike the GP model, too, because I view it as a useful tool to lock games behind licensing agreements you never know when they will get expired, forcing you to pay for it again.
I just wanted to point out that HB2 was, if anything else, heavily played through GP, otherwise it would have entered the charts.
So lower rankings in the charts could in fact just mean a game is (well) received over GP.
Going forward, it's one of the most interesting things to watch in the following years how Microsoft will be able to hold up to the effect GP has on box office revenue.
I am thrilled to see how the Xbox brand will evolve around this with their next hardware iteration.
Looking at the recent hardware sales news, you can bet their heads must be steaming right now to come up with a proper strategy around GP.
My take is that you can bet Microsoft will be going or at least heavily evaluating becoming a full 3rd-party-publisher, even with their biggest IPs.
As of now, I can't see any other way how they would be able to keep the GP sustainable pumping out AA-AAA games day one.
Many of them with development costs well above 50 or even 100+ million USD. And subsequent support work going into them over years after release.
I feel like, you have a rational view of the issues, and I also "get you".
Just one thing I disagree with, though you say could so I assume your just being optimistic or glass half full.
"I just wanted to point out that HB2 was, if anything else, heavily played through GP, otherwise it would have entered the charts. So lower rankings in the charts could in fact just mean a game is (well) received over GP."
I don't think that is what happened, the game didn't even crack the top 20 on xbox's own ranking system. That is my opinion on the performance of the game.
I'm not sure there is a path to sustainability, game pass is a bit like an ouroboros the more people adopt it the more it canabalizes the platform and the industry over all.
"I don't think that is what happened, the game didn't even crack the top 20 on xbox's own ranking system."
Ouch.
I did not know that. Sorry if you had mentioned it before, I must have overlooked it.
Well, what can I say.
HB2 wasn't meant to be for everyone, but leading up to its release it got definitely hyped like it was by a part of the Xbox community.
I am saddened for Ninja Theory, I bet they would have had a bigger success if they still were 3rd party.
But I have to say that HB on its own was probably never created to be a system seller, but rather fullfilling their own vision of creation. Which in fact is what videogames are all about in the first place.
I wrap it up.
Indiana Jones and COD incoming - wonder how their numbers will look like.
It's exciting, I mean it truly is, to see GP effects on so many titles still coming up. especially on the juggernaut that CoD is.
Here we go.. too much barking about EA CEO getting a big bonus when the same ones are buying his games. So pathetic
Interesting that EAFC 24 still made top sales, considering it was the free game on PS+. Unless that counts as a purchase?
Hellblade has always been overrated, even the original. Just because a game does something different, doesn't make it amazing. Great graphics and a unique experience... that's really it. That doesn't make up for the rest. Gameplay is terrible, puzzles are terrible, no replay value, extremely short.
The original was only $30, so it was more acceptable. But the sequel brought nothing new to the table.
Hellblade 2 failure to reach the top 100 is really surprising to me. I understand it was on gamepass but the game was also available day 1 on PC. So making your game available on PC does not mean much in terms of sale all the time? Interesting.
I guess I'm not the only one that wasn't remotely interested in immersing myself in schizophrenia for 6 hours?
6 copy's sold would have landed them in the top 100
edge magazine gave it a 4/10 which happens to be the amount of copies it has sold
Stellar Blade: Style over substance 6/10
Hellblade 2: Graphics over gameplay 9/10
I'm done. Lol.