The lovely Jez Corden just dropped his thoughts on the year ahead for Xbox, and while there’s plenty of interesting nuggets in there on quite a few different subjects. One that caught my eye, was Jez’s brief mention of UK based studio, Ninja Theory. And of course, the potential of a possible ‘Hellblade 3’ or something new from the team.
In his report, which you can read over on Windows Central, Jez talks a little about what Ninja Theory’s new game is going to be, saying “I’ve heard Ninja Theory’s next game will be more combat-involved and interactive than Hellblade 1 and 2, while retaining the cinematic excellence the studio has come to be known for.“
Interestingly, the future of Ninja Theory/Hellblade 3 was brought up in our Community Questions segment when Jez joined us on a recent episode of the XboxEra Podcast, where he talked a little bit about some of the detail in his recent editorial.
“I honestly don’t have a ton of details,” he said. “I just heard that Project Mara was ‘conceptual’. I often asked that question – ‘Where’s Project Mara?’ “When’s it coming out?” I don’t think it’s a thing – at least not yet. It’s just like a cool concept that maybe one day will become a game, but not for now. They’re just working on a singular title, which I think we all expect to be Hellblade 3 – potentially.“
On the subject of Ninja Theory’s ‘action game’ lineage, Jez said “I’ve heard they’re bringing that lineage to the next game – if it is Hellblade. I don’t know if it’s Hellblade, I just know it’s going to be more interactive and more combat oriented.“
Personally, I loved what Ninja Theory did with the follow up to Hellblade, saying in my review of the sequel that “The heart of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – the sheer ambition of it – is something to be applauded. It doesn’t waste your time, and it exceeds it’s goals in every conceivable way, delivering the true ‘next-gen’ showcase Xbox fans have been waiting for.”
I note that during that review period, plenty of pundits and fans did want something more video game than video game ‘experience’ so perhaps Ninja Theory have taken that feedback on board for a potential follow up. We’ll have to wait and see!
Would you want to see Ninja Theory tackle Hellblade 3 and have it lean into a more traditional combat model, or something new from the studio? Let us know in the XboxEra Forums or make some noise in the lively XboxEra Community Discord Server. If you’re looking to be a bigger part of an amazing community, then either choice is a good one!
