Hellblade 2 Sales Were Disappointing - Luke Reacts

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Luke Stephens is a Content-Creator and Streamer that co-streams on KZbin and Twitch. This channel has Live Stream clips and highlights in addition to the streams themselves. Check out Luke's main channel & other content by going to: linktr.ee/lukestephens !!
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#gaming #LukeStephens #ps5 #xbox

[@oukeith]

Hellblade 2 came and went like a fart in the wind.

[@Dan7900xtx]

well said

[@TheJeez]

We heard it, we smelled it, it smelled bad, it vanished off our radars 😂

[@Mojaveknight17]

The Xbox Xp

[@shd4618]

Smellfade 2

[@chriskociolek1830]

A scentless fart

[@makani9004]

0 Marketing + Bad Word of Mouth + Game Pass=Economic suicide.

[@Antros23]

Do you believe game pass is for free? 😂😂😂 they cash in big time..

[@pete7354]

Microsoft reputation is so bad after they charged $70 for redfall. It sucks cause Hellblade 2 was great

[@TakaChan569]

@@Antros23 And games take cash to make, and seeing as GP isn't growing like they want and they felt the need to up the price.

[@XxtimespltersxX]

+ game was boring.

[@user-vi4zw6zu4c]

No, the main factor is that the game sucked ass.

[@HekateMGO]

Wow, imagine making a 5h game that mostly consists of close ups of grotesque facial expressions and expecting it to set the world on fire.

[@joshuatealeaves]

5 hours of close up grotesque facial expressions hits close to home

[@Waltersop]

@@HekateMGO works for the first one!

[@ArielCleirigh]

MS xbox: hellblade 2 is a success, Not hi fi rush.

[@DJMettwurst]

Watch it win performance awards while peak acting in this game is Senua baring her gums

[@mymusicaljesus]

THIS is the Xbox way.

[@jacoblesperance2115]

Xbox bought Ninja Theory at almost the same price as Sony bought Insomniac. Let that sink in.

[@Jaycy845]

😂😂😂

[@StatesGames]

The difference is that Ninja Theory became a technical reference in the gaming industry, while Insomniac became a subsidiary of Marvel. Yes, it makes money, but Ninja Theory has valuable technical knowledge that it can contribute to its own projects and those of other Xbox studios. That's not bad

[@barbos1507]

Why the fuck a studio that made the last good game 11 years ago gets to live, while the other who had a steady pace and a massive banger last year shuts down?

[@nanonano2595]

idk, but often you never hear what goes on behind the scenes. Like LA noire did decently well but if you've heard what it took to get it to launch, I'd shut them down or fire a whole bunch of the team if i owned the studio. Now assuming you're talking about tango gameworks, there are several key points you may not have noticed, like founder shinji mikami having left in 2023 to form a new studio. He may have taken a bunch of core team members with him. Also, they are a japanese studio, which could have led to numerous cultural, regional and national issues that microsoft really didn't want to deal with.

[@Jojo-nq3bp]

DMC reboot sucked

[@markshorthouse8564]

Cause xbox sucks and don't know gaming

[@bolladragon]

Timing. Tango wasn’t actively developing a game since they had recently released one, so it was easier to kill. It’s that stupid of a reason.

[@giorno6086]

they have made decent games at best.

[@F34RDSoldier805]

If they don't get shut down after this, then my theory of Tango Gameworks being shut down because they are a Japanese based studio feels to becoming more and more true.

[@jzilla1234]

Underwhelming? Disappointing? No, it's a failure

[@Jaycy845]

Yeah disappointing is an understatement

[@kg888]

Duh. It a movie. You can watch the whole thing on youtube without wasting full price on it. 😂 it a one time only.

[@Ionic0]

i woudlnt even watch it, id rather spend that valuable time in hi fi rush

[@divinitygaming8673]

Fck that. I'd rather play Elden Ring new game plus 7.

[@ZelBellz]

Actually yeah so true

[@juggernaut6666]

Guarantee they want to axe the studio. But they dont want more bad PR right now. Considering they are upping the price of gamepass.

[@lcoyle1998]

You're not thinking it through, the visuals they got, especially for facial capture, on Hellblade 2 was industry leading. There is no way they'll want to let go of that talent. Even if they get stripped to barebones and made into a support studio, there's no chance you'd ever lose that talent that could help you make all of your other games look better

[@xMontorix]

Im laughing because depending on when you recorded this I might have been that one guy on Bleeding Edge 😂

[@GFMarine]

​@@lcoyle1998Doesn't matter if the game has industry leading tech when it's boring as hell in both the gameplay and story department.

[@rodrigobogado8756]

@@lcoyle1998 of course they are going to get great facial capture when it's 90% of what the game has, it doesn't use processing power for anything else. And it isn't even a big deal at the end of the day

[@zuriyel5368]

@@rodrigobogado8756 Yeah, I don't see this case being any different from Order 1886.

[@doublecrossedswine112]

It's not even a game. More a demo with puzzles that a dog could solve.

[@chrisboshoff7069]

RIP another game studio

[@vissermatt1058]

RIP an almost interactive cgi film company?

[@tronam]

Nah, they've got 2 games in development with the second one just recently greenlit.

[@TheNightquaker]

Frankly deserved after how bad Hellblade 2 is.

[@Zero_Steel]

they already grinding the Axe right now as we speak 😂😂

[@karmaascendant3936]

@@tronamso did Tango

[@ageup7493]

Redfall, Starfield, Hellblade 2… when will Microsoft release a hit?

[@StatesGames]

What the hell? You may not like Starfield, but it was the most played Single Player on consoles in 2023. It was one of the best-selling games on Steam in 2023. It was the game most talked about by the press in 2023. Just answer me one thing (and please answer directly): What is a hit for you?

[@mstrzg]

when you sell your coffee shop to starbucks it becomes a starbucks, all of these studios are just microsoft now.

[@DJMarcO138]

As someone who worked for a startup that was acquired by Microsoft - you are 10000000% correct here.

[@Disconnis]

Wow that's like 100000x the correctness 😮

[@mymusicaljesus]

Microsoft can't even release a new Halo on time for the launch of the Series X, even though Master Chief was in the Series X announcement video AND plastered across the Series X box. It came out a full year AFTER the release of the new system and was broken beyond belief and missing basic promised features. I've said it a billion times, but if Microsoft can't even handle THEIR OWN FRANCHISES, what makes ANYONE think that they can take over and handle established franchises that have been around for 2-3 DECADES like COD and everything else they devoured in the past few years. It's absurd.

[@rizalruhizat]

Luke said the game started production at 2021, but they revealed at 2019... i am really confused... Did they really started the production way after the reveal? Why would they do that?

[@Maitredebo2]

The fact most people didn't even finish a 5 hours game just tells a lot lmao

[@dudebruh8534]

Hellblade 2 defenders when they realize you can't sell a movie as a video games: 😡🤬😡

[@marlow21]

When ur game is heavily marketed to have next gen graphics but gamepplay feels like several generations behind.

[@oniokami13]

That's because the major market sale was originally on Playstation😆😂🤣

[@TwoHandedChargedBonk]

Who would buy a glorified tech demo for a full AA price.

[@Dungeons-jb5vp]

4/3 years for a game shorter than a call of duty campaign,

[@beardalaxy]

and much less fun, at that. sure, a game can make you super emotional or whatever, but despite how awful black ops 3's story was i can still go back and play that campaign (especially with a friend) and have a super fun time playing through it. a lot of developers have taken "games as an art form" way too seriously and made some things that are barely considered games and lean a lot more on the "art" side.

[@Mr.SodaJerk]

My dumb ass bought this game for full price and I was disappointed because all it was was an interactive cut scene

[@octavianpopescu4776]

I would advise letting some time pass before buying a game (don't pre-order and don't buy day 1). Look at the reception it gets in a month after release, after the novelty wears off and very important: look at actual gameplay, not what the devs want you to see (trailers, PR stuff, cherrypicked gameplay only showing the best parts), just someone playing the game on YT. That's what I do.

[@jubei7259]

"Ninja Theory are safe"..... for now lol

[@Jaycy845]

They ain’t safe

[@joeabernathy5402]

When you make a product that's substantially worse and hike the price, this is what happens.

[@jamiegarner9955]

Considering Xbox have closed Arcane Austin (after Redfall) & Tango Gameworks (after Hi-Fi Rush) it’ll be very interesting to see if Ninja Theory stays open, that’ll be two demonstrably unsuccessful games on the bounce… with regards sales & concurrent player count.

[@rodrigobogado8756]

if it stays open then it's clear there is some nepotism going on

[@legendp2011]

the team makiing hellblade is small (and reportedly main development was handled by only 40 people). additionally Ninja Theory Project Mara which they announced in 2020 is what most the studio has been working on (supposeldy).

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

Ninja Theory are all going to get fired sooner or later Tameem Antonaides the guy who created Ninja Theory left and neither MS or Ninja Theory said anything about it. the game media didn't even mention it until weeks later

[@VjRamkilawan]

Pitching a new project is dangerous. Tango was doing that when they got Matt Bootied.

[@aliibrahim7553]

Well i disagree with you about ninja theory been okay Because tango gameworks was working on ghostwire Tokyo 2 according to leeks of the FCC and even though they got canned It well only take Microsoft an almost bad financial year and you will see them gone too

[@Day_Chap]

That trailer just showing an angry women yelling at the camera, turned off 95% of potential players.

[@eded9157]

Make sense, 7 years of development for 7 hours of game, to be played by 7 people only.

[@cristopher8186]

7 hours is generous lmao

[@Coxy_Wrecked]

@@cristopher8186 Took me about a week to finish.

[@legendp2011]

did you even watch the video? he literally discusses the whole "7 years thing"

[@SWOTHDRA]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@harty3113]

​@@cristopher8186it's really not. Took me 8.5 hours without wasting time. I have no idea where people keep getting 5 hours from

[@Freyja_Broko]

Noooo! We never saw this coming did we🙄

[@TravisRiver]

Gameplay is king

[@MinosML]

07:20 that 'Huh, Freudian Slip!' needs to be a soundbite LMAOO

[@chickenpotbiebro202]

and yet there were positive reviews like crazy, convinced that it was not to shut down the studio

[@Jaycy845]

The die hard Hellblade 2 defenders have been real quiet since the day after the game dropped

[@F34RDSoldier805]

Always crazy how a shit ton of people come to the defense of these games that end up failing anyway because not even they support it past fightin people in comment sections. I would bet most defenders watched a stream of it like everyone else.

[@Ronuk1996]

That is big issue just look at Days Gone many people that got it on PS plus loved wanted a sequel. But they did not support it. Many played Helbade 2 on game pass.

[@F34RDSoldier805]

@@Ronuk1996 Same with Dead Space Remake. So many people are crying that EA put Dead Space on freeze while at the same time talking about why. It's because nobody outside the hardcore DS fans bought it and supported it. I bought it twice. One for me and one for my brother because of how amazing it was, but not many did. But then people cry that we aren't getting more. It's like, no shit.

[@Ronuk1996]

@F34RDSoldier805 Yeah it's unfortunate but they can not bitch about EA when they do not support games. Look at when people were looking at the success of certain single player games proof EA Were wrong about single player games not selling. What EA actually said was linear single player games do not sell which is true. With dead space not selling well and Calisto not do well and the studio shutting down it really shows you can not really make triple A linear games anymore. At the end of the day gamers are the ones to blame for most things with games if people actually supported the games they love we would not have so many failures.

[@F34RDSoldier805]

@@Ronuk1996 Tbf, Callisto was a flop because it was a mess at launch for more than a dozen reasons from balancing, repetative bosses and horrible technical issues. Dead Space Remake was near 10/10 though.

[@Xerodm]

Water is also wet.

[@drakealexander6668]

The hype for the game was high. They got destroyed by their own hubris.

[@charaznable8072]

Underwhelming is an understatement.

[@santiagoherrera1853]

I remember I posted a comment on threads about how Xbox didn’t gave Hellblade 2 any marketing, some guy online told me “What are you talking about? I’ve never seen a game receive so much marketing as Hellblade 2”. I disagreed based on the one tweet, launch video and instagram post I saw for this game and compared it to Redfall’s marketing being significantly more involved and overall better, and the guy called me a liar, a Fanboy and instantly blocked me, which speaks volumes to me about how delusional some people like him are

[@Phirestar]

I’d forgotten about Bleeding Edge as well. I remember seeing it at like E3 2019 or whatever event it was, but I don’t even recall it coming out. Well at leas that one guy is happy with his purchase.

[@micpango]

I don’t understand suits. How can sales be disappointing when you put it in game pass? Did they expect people to play in game pass then buy the game as well? Wouldn’t sales numbers and game pass contradict each other?

[@fieryphoenix2501]

like other people I think Luke's editor better get the * A few months later..... " meme ready

[@GhostCodeRG]

i dont have an issue with short games (i beat sly cooper in 4 hours lol) but that game was FUN, this was not

[@Vagabond_01]

I didn't even know this was out yet XD

[@praisetheoak]

The in-engine trailers showcased at The Game Awards 2019 indeed suggested that substantial progress had already been made in the game's development, at least to the point of having started production, which is even more damning.

[@Coxy_Wrecked]

Yes, not sure why the suggestion is a developer can only work on one game at a time?

[@legendp2011]

the anthem demo suggested that anthem was well under way too. but it turned out that was literally just made for e3. hellblade2 2019 showcase was likely the same

[@praisetheoak]

@@legendp2011 Yeah, but consider that the demo is almost a 1:1 recreation of what ended up in the final game except for a few graphical changes, so if anything they already advanced some work by then

[@Goose_Willis]

Time will tell if Ninja Theory stays open. After the closure of Tango Gameworks, I'm not so sure. I also fear, by extension, Doublefine will not be able to make the brand grow as XBox demands.

[@marcosramos5117]

I didn’t expect sales to be high - I wonder how GamePass subs were impacted that would be the true marker at least according to MS standards. That game should have launched as a free game with the Xbox and or market it as a “interactive experience” on a different platform like Smart TVs and streaming medias.

[@brianrich3094]

1 it was free on the game pass … 2 was extremely short … bad word of mouth… what did they expect ?

[@ZeroDawnGaming91]

Why heavenly sword is not even mentioned anymore is beyond me. What a great game.

[@MrApplebee]

I think that game underperformed as well. Plus it's a Sony IP, so Ninja Theory can't really do anything with it. As far as sequels are concerned.

[@fioredeutchmark]

It’s not mentioned because it’s terrible. Runs at -20fps in most fight scenes, has mindless boring combat and the story is entirely generic. Compared with the God of War and Ninja Gaiden games of the same era that it is trying to emulate it comes up short in every single department. It’s a joke.

[@labersack3141]

So the sky is blue, huh ? Who would have guessed 😂

[@ray6696]

i really liked the game the draugr ritual mission was really awesome and the cinematic feel was awesome and i also played it on gamepass

[@skyeunknown8076]

the only thing I knew about this game is that it was $50 and very short.

[@corvega_joe]

Like others have said, it’s a five hour long tech demo. Is this really surprising?

[@TriumvirSajaki]

I didn't even hear that it was released

[@beardalaxy]

Ninja Theory needs to give us what we all really want: DmC Devil May Cry 2.

[@nunuonroad9969]

All you had to was watch one video of the game actually being played to realise there wasn’t much there

[@captainsnugleup]

Whaaaaat, I am so utterly surprised

[@soliitudegaming7275]

I dont think it needs to be "better". but it needs to at least be as good. It is kinda unfair when anyone releases a game people go "well its not better than X game". Like not everything needs to be the best, it just needs to be fun and good. Hellblade 2 was NOT good and not fun.

[@falscherkim3033]

Microsoft just buried their own grave with the Gamepass. Who wants to buy a game full price if you can have it for free in a subscription? Also just spending tons and tons of money on buying studios and not getting that money back in through subscriptions. Sony delivers quality games and people are willing to buy the full price. Sony vs Microsoft is simply quality vs quantity.

[@makani9004]

@@falscherkim3033 Technically, Sony (and Nintendo) have both. If you give your studios care, water, and sunlight, you don't have to choose. Hell, MS could do with a hell of a lot more quantity, then we wouldn't have to hyper focus on every release they make.

[@JeffroTV]

I knew the game was DOA since around two years ago and especially the past year when all the marketing they have ever done was only focused on the production design in the cutscenes like mocap. I figured out a long time ago (since rdr2) that if they are promoting a game and noticeably avoiding many aspects of a game (or lack there of) in the marketing then it's most likely not going to be that good

[@_n8thagr8_63]

And not a single person was surprised lol.

[@Ronuk1996]

Should not put games with high production vaule on gamepass day one.

[@John_Smith5]

Why is almost every game under Microsoft this generation really mediocre with the exception of forza horizon 5 and hi fi rush?

[@dushikorsou1]

Pretty much a pretty unreal 5 tech demo for 50 bucks

[@easonzhang1326]

The story is so casual.. NPC suddenly told your there's a way to defeat the giant while he's the same one who keeps on telling you there's nothing you can do for about 20min, it's so cringe. and the fact that the position he suggest you to go are just 5min away on foot is more hilarious. It's like the dev didn't think the story through before making it... and decided to change story in mid-game

[@JoeChronic]

In other news water 💧 is wet 💦

[@xMontorix]

Depending on when you recorded this I might have been that one guy on Bleeding Edge 😂

[@user-vi4zw6zu4c]

I have never heard of Bleeding Edge

[@fruitloops1481]

I think this game just needed a much cheaper price point. I guess it’s not possible with such expensive graphics. I feel like sometimes it’s okay for games to fail if they push the limits and the company is big enough to take the hit. It could be worth it for a future game.

[@brunoutechkaheeros1182]

its a 6 hours interactive movie... did someone expected it to sell well? 😂😂😂😂

[@MrZeljko88]

I just finished Hellblade 2 and i think the graphics were amazing, the game play was great too, only thing is i wish the story was longer i played it on game pass yes.

[@chriskociolek1830]

That movie was called HellSlop 2

[@Maitredebo2]

"Oh no ! Anyway."

[@Astaroth-1]

I thought the first game was a snoozefest so I didn’t have any plan to buy it, especially for the price for a game about the length of 2 movies.

[@Runforestrun]

Who the hell was gonna buy it, when it was on Gamepass?... I played it, but sure as hell didn't buy it.

[@freedomfirst5557]

The game is too short for the price that it is. I remember paying the same amount of money for games that I've been playing for seven years...and still continue to play with no end in sight.

[@ZelBellz]

The problem is it’s a great movie and has very high production but they evidently didn’t realize people play games to play them not watch then would’ve done better if they just made it a movie lmao

[@jmssun]

It’s more of a disappointment that the terrible sales is a surprise 😂

[@TheJacktheripper92]

Nooooo wayyy, reallly?

[@jhitcho2026]

Tech demo for sure. Then there's silent hill short message for free lol

[@g36cvek]

So this was basically The Order 1888

[@marwynthemasterful6369]

Xbox isn’t gonna shutter them so soon. Just have to shutter before production starts. I’m calling Jan-Feb 2025

[@germanCouchWarrior]

I was hyped for it but the short playtime, the cinematic bars which can't be disabled and the mixed reviews convinced me to not spend 50 Euro. Perhaps for 20 Euros.

[@simplycheezy187]

I'm sorry to turn it into this but why the fuck does Ninja Theory stay for making a mediocre game while Tango gets axed for making a great game? I don't want anyone to be fires but this just makes 0 sense and feels a little hypocritical

[@jackpalmer7577]

I personally really enjoyed hellblade 2, thought it better than the first, and bleeding edge I enjoyed at the time but it dropped off so fast I had to stop because it was impossible to get a match

[@Jhgykjhuih]

Its more a movie then it is a game.

[@ItsShaggy3]

It sucks because the Graphics Team did a great job imo. Writing & Marketing team tho, should be fired asap.

[@nomercy8989]

Who would have thought. I mean it was obvious it won't sell that well.

[@cookiescream1993]

I got gamepass for a one dollar trial for this game having not played the sequel. Got my moneys worth some of those set pieces were beyond incredible. Easily the best looking film Esque game of all time. I see why fans would be pissed though.

[@FabuBrik]

surprise surprise. no one saw this coming.

[@chrimbus3442]

They made a 5 hour walking simulator so nobody bought it and now theure like 😮

[@redmenace8287]

The old demo game discs from pizza hut for ps1 had more content and replayability.

[@thedocgonzo88]

5 hours for a 50 euro game is simply a cheek - you can tell me what you want. Even a game like this simply has to take at least 15 hours. It is what it is.

[@Pyramid789]

I'm curious how hellblade 1 went. I've never been interested in the game from the start, so I've no clue

[@opticalsalt2306]

I think if you didn’t need a 3080 to make it run and look good more people would’ve played it

[@392sasuke]

Maybe a tv show of it would be more interesting 🤔

[@TheNecroswanson]

Come for the dumpsterfire stay for the gothic rockstar badboy villain (also a dumpsterfire).

[@Dan7900xtx]

outside of nintendo i doubt physical sales amount to much anymore the game bombed

[@anthonyrobinson3514]

That studio will be closed this time next year

[@rains2693]

Gamers have woken up, and journalism is powerless now.

[@staxmcgee9760]

And the harder they fight it, the more gamers awaken.