Hours before the second Xbox Developer Direct, we have a rumored release date for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
As reported by Tech4Gamers, the title is scheduled to release on May 21, 2024. This rumor comes from leaker eXtas1s. Other leakers and sources have pointed to a Q2 release window, but did not have a specific date.
It’s highly likely that this leaker went forward with sharing the date now precisely because the Xbox Developer Direct, which is arriving in a few hours, will confirm this date. While it can still be harmful for the release date to come out without the control of the game publisher, it isn’t as bad if it at least happens a few hours before.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 has so far appeared to be a very impressive release, for the rapidly improving Ninja Theory. It sounds crazy to say that the studio that once produced titles like DmC Devil may Cry and Heavenly Sword is set to release what is potentially the first GOTY worthy titles of the year.
But, I bring up their earlier works precisely to point out how far the studio has come. While the studio has demonstrated an eagerness to try anything, they have kept coming back to this single player action game held by a strong narrative.
Few fans will dispute that the studio leveled up with the release of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. While we do know they have been making this kind of game for years, it still feels like they came out of nowhere with this title bringing together elements like a historical background, a psychological horror/trauma theme, puzzle solving and combat mechanics, to make something entirely unique, and very well executed. Microsoft acquired the studio a year after Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was released.
Thus far, Ninja Theory has been impressing us with their video previews for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. Even now, it seems impossible that its visuals are composed of computer generated graphics, As opposed to Hollywood movies, Ninja Theory’s little project does not have the benefit of being placed in the background so as not to draw attention to itself. Similarly, it does look noticeably fake, a big problem with the big movies nowadays.
In fact, it seemed fitting that Ninja Theory made a behind-the-scenes video to demonstrate that they aren’t just passing off video footage as CG graphics. Now, we hope to see if the final title lives up to that promise, and we may not wait that long to find out.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 will be released for Xbox Series X|S and Windows via Steam.
