Years after the studio confirmed its development, Hellblade 2 failed to achieve the success and popularity they had anticipated. Despite receiving generally good reviews similar to the first title, Ninja Theory’s title quickly faded into obscurity after its May release.
Its early Game Pass availability was a benefit. According to several sales analyses, the game did not achieve anything close to a good flow of units sold. In terms of popularity and concurrent players on Steam, the title didn’t even surpass 10,000 players.
Ninja Theory’s New Title, Hellblade 2, Was a Sales Failure
After nearly more than six years since the first title was released, Ninja Theory finally launched Hellblade 2 to the public. Many critics believe that this is undoubtedly a true next-gen game, as no title even came close graphically.
However, despite using Unreal Engine 5 and looking spectacular, the sales did not reflect this, and the studio failed to make this game a success beyond the positive reviews.
According to the latest sales analyses, this game, released in May, was one of the worst launches of the month, failing to break into top 100 titles of the month. Even in that month, the title didn’t even reach the top 30 chart for full-game dollar sales. Clearly, being on Game Pass didn’t help the game sell more, as it did with other more independent titles.
Wow… What a shock. 🙄
— Victor Villarreal (@kryten09) July 9, 2024
How does management keep their jobs!?
From a cold business POV (can't say if the game is good or bad) big noise online AGAIN DOESN'T translate to sales or game engagement (even when it's "free") IRL.
It was an absolute 💣 https://t.co/cK7DD96UMQ
The industry is saying that these sales are not surprising at all.
It's unfortunate but not surprising that @NinjaTheory's #HellBlade2 turned out this way.
— J2X (@NoMore404s) July 9, 2024
Visually stunning, but once you're numb to those visuals there's not a lot of game substance to fall back on.
Some loved it…unfortunately, many others didn't echo that same sentiment. https://t.co/BDX4uufNgU
Players are not shocked to see how this games performed either.
Sales aside, I get that Ninja Theory is a relatively small team but as a big fan of the first game, Hellblade 2 is one of the laziest sequels I have ever played. I am not calling the devs lazy. I am saying the major improvements from 1 to 2 are almost non-existant. https://t.co/kIVqQoGTlr
— Lisan Al BG (@BrokenGamezHDR_) July 9, 2024
Many complaints were also made about the game being extremely short. These kinds of game experiences are not for everyone.
This Game Did Not Manage to Develop an Aggressive Sales Strategy
In terms of concurrent players on Steam, it didn’t even surpass 4,000 at the same time, which is not at all positive for a newly released game. On platforms like Twitch, it achieved over 110,000 views when it was released, but a week later, it dropped by almost 90%, with only 900 users streaming this title.
Any game in this budget with these popularity numbers would be a complete failure if not for a large company backing it. One of the main issues with this game is that it was short and didn’t generate much content outside the main story. Hellblade 2 only stands out with its graphics and some parts of its narrative, but that is not enough to attract new players.
The price was also not competitive enough to entice the community to try it outside the Xbox service. Nevertheless, the studio is already working on another game. Regarding the Hellblade 2 project, everything related to marketing is very important to sell as many copies as possible.
One of the standout features of the first title was its incredible visuals and sound design, something that is also present in this sequel on a much larger scale. However, the studio did not adequately promote the game to engage players, as evidenced by the sales.
What are your thoughts on this title’s sales? Let us know in the comments!
