Ninja Theory starts layoffs: Hellblade's studio faces closure, Senua may never ship

Staff at Ninja Theory, the studio behind Hellblade, have started posting on LinkedIn that they are being laid off or are about to be. They include the technical director, sound designers, programmers and artists, VGC reports. It is the first visible fallout from what Xbox announced on 22 September: both deals to sell the studio fell through, and Microsoft began consulting staff on a closure. The third Hellblade game, Senua, shown in June with a 2027 release, is now in doubt.

How it came to this

In the summer, Xbox decided to part ways with Ninja Theory and looked for a new owner so the studio could finish Senua. According to Game File, the trailer at June's Xbox Games Showcase was partly meant to attract buyers. It did not work. "Unfortunately, two separate agreements for Ninja Theory fell through," Xbox COO Matt Booty wrote on 22 September. The company is starting consultation on closing the studio while still exploring other paths.

It is part of Xbox's second wave of cuts: another 268 jobs on top of the 1,600 in the first wave, according to VGC. In the same wave the next Halo went to Activision and Obsidian was folded into Bethesda. Another studio, State of Decay 3 developer Undead Labs, did find a buyer.

What Ninja Theory made

Ninja Theory was always a studio for unusual action games, and Hellblade, a game about psychosis, made its name far beyond the genre. The staff now posting about leaving remember how much people there cared about the work, and regret that they will not see what they were building finished.

What happens to Senua

The game has not been officially cancelled, and Microsoft kept its line about "other paths forward". But if the studio closes without a new owner, Senua will most likely go with it: one employee writes that the team will not get to finish what it was working on. For now, the 2024 sequel Senua's Saga: Hellblade II remains the studio's last released game.