Senua's Saga: Hellblade II narrative direction to focus on 'myths, gods and religion', team roughly twice the size of the first game

Hellblade II wallpaper 3
Hellblade II wallpaper 3 (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

What you need to know

  • Ninja Theory was acquired by Microsoft in 2018 and is a part of Xbox Game Studios.
  • Ninja Theory announced Senua's Saga: Hellblade II at the Game Awards 2019.
  • Creative Director Tameem Antoniades has shared that Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is being made by twice as many developers as the first game.
  • Antoniades also shared that Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is meant to focus how suffering shapes gods, myths and religion.

While Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is early in development, we now know a bit more of what to expect. During a new developer diary, Creative Director and Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades shared a bit more insight into the game. It's being made by a team twice the size of the one that worked on Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Considering that game was made by 20 people, we can estimate this means around 40 developers from the 120 at Ninja Theory are working on Senua's Saga: Hellblade II. Antoniades also shared that while the first game focused on giving people a personal insight into psychosis, the sequel is meant to build on that and show how madness and suffering "shape myths, gods and religion." You can take a look at the "Dreadnought Diary" where Tameem shared this information below.

Ninja Theory has revealed multiple ambitious projects over the last several months. At E3 2019, it unveiled Bleeding Edge, a colorful multiplayer brawler set to release in March 2020. The team also announced The Insight Project, a multi-year research effort to help understand mental illness and possible treatment through video games. Then Ninja Theory announced Senua's Saga: Hellblade II at the Game Awards 2019. Finally, it has also revealed Project Mara, an experimental horror title.

These latter three projects comprise a new studio mission for Ninja Theory as part of Xbox Game Studios, which is "To craft life-changing art with game-changing tech."

Hellblade II trailer analysis: digging for gameplay and story details

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Samuel Tolbert
Freelance Writer

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert.