Hellblade 2 was a title that a lot of gamers were excited about. The game was also the first installment in the series since the studio’s acquisition by Xbox Game Studios in 2018.
It was a visual delight and incredibly cinematic to witness. However, despite releasing day one on Xbox Game Pass, the game seemed far from the level of success in sales and engagement that passionate Xbox fans expected.
Circana Video Game Industry Advisor Shares Data About Hellblade 2’s Reception by Gamers
In 2024, Xbox needed a title to facilitate its Hail Mary pass toward saving itself. When Hellblade 2 was announced, fans were incredibly excited, but the Unreal Engine 5 visuals and incredible cinematic brilliance didn’t help the game’s sales and engagement too much.
According to Mat Piscatella, video game advisor at Circana, Hellblade 2 only placed 37th overall for May 2024 in terms of video game sales:
Something worth noting is that the game couldn’t secure a spot in the top 10 or even the top 20 in terms of Xbox Series X|S sales numbers.
Apart from individual sales, Hellblade 2‘s Xbox Game Pass engagement numbers were objectively better:
The game also outranked games like Star Wars Jedi Survivor, which was recently added to Game Pass, Apex Legends, and Forza Horizon 5:
While it seems logical for a single-player game, (also a day one Xbox Game Pass title with only a 7-9 hour playthrough,) to perform this way in terms of sales, the figures might indicate the downsides to Xbox’s approach with exclusives.
Even After a Game Like Hellblade 2, Xbox Cannot Seem to Crack the Code
Ninja Theory’s latest was rated well by reviewers. Readers can also check out our game review to learn more about our verdict on the title. 87% of Player reviews on Steam are also positive.
So, it seems like critics and players who genuinely played the game found it enjoyable. Surprisingly, though, the game didn’t sell as well as it should have. Is it that Xbox’s previous exclusives like Crackdown 3 and Redfall have convinced people that no first-party exclusives from the company are worth their time and money?
It is a possibility. Sales and user reception are heavily influenced by market sentiment apart from the quality of the deliverable. It is common knowledge that Xbox’s state in the current generation of consoles isn’t pleasant by any metric whatsoever.
This means the market sentiment for anything except Xbox Game Pass isn’t favorable and even Game Pass is ‘steady’ with no growth. It seems like Xbox lost gamers long ago, and these are only aftershocks. Do you think upcoming exclusives that look promising will be able to save the company? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
