Xbox is undergoing another major shake-up: staff at Ninja Theory, the studio behind the Hellblade series, have been told the developer is being closed down. Employees are still hoping a buyer can be found, while Compulsion Games and Double Fine may also be negotiating a split from Microsoft.
Xbox is closing down Ninja Theory, the studio behind the Hellblade series, according to a source speaking to The Verge. Staffers were told about the closure during a call on Monday, though employees are hoping the studio can still find a buyer instead of disappearing entirely. The news lands especially hard given how closely Ninja Theory has been tied to Microsoft’s prestige-driven creative ambitions in recent years, with Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II representing the kind of more experimental, adult-focused work Xbox could ill afford to lose casually.
The closure does not appear to be an isolated move. Bloomberg reports that “several” Xbox studios inside Microsoft, including Compulsion Games and Double Fine, are in “active negotiations” about spinning off. This is happening at a moment when Xbox leadership is openly talking about a broader reset, rather than a quiet internal reorganization.
The closure and negotiations follow Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty warning last week of a “reset” at Xbox. The executives laid out several major challenges facing the business, including that Xbox had “over extended” with its studio system, while the hardware component crisis is significantly driving up prices. Kotaku reported earlier on Monday that Microsoft was planning to shut down Compulsion, though it later noted in an update that the studio’s leadership was still in “negotiations” with Microsoft.
Sharma has made several major decisions since taking over at Xbox in February. At the Xbox Games Showcase just over a week ago, Microsoft announced that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution would be Xbox console exclusives. During the same event, Microsoft also revealed a new Hellblade game titled Senua, but with Ninja Theory now being shut down, the future of that project has become unclear.
Xbox did not immediately reply to The Verge’s request for comment.
Source: The Verge
