There’s obvious and undeniable value to a game that can keep you occupied for dozens of hours on end, especially from a monetary perspective, but as the industry continues to get more and more saturated with such experiences, the number of people hoping for a return to smaller games also continues to grow. One studio that’s acutely aware of that shift in tastes is Ninja Theory, the developer of the upcoming Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
Hellblade 2 is set to launch next month as a digital-only $50 game that’ll be about as long as its predecessor (which was roughly 7-8 hours in length), and according to Ninja Theory studio head Dom Matthews, there’s a sizeable audience of people – especially within the Ninja Theory player base – that prefer shorter, more focused experiences to games that can last 50-100 hours. As per Matthews, a lot of that is down to the rapid growth in digital distribution.
“What I would say as well though is that I think that since digital distribution has become a thing, it has opened the industry up to games of all shapes and sizes, which I think is really great,” he said in a recent interview with IGN. “So I’m really pleased to see that there’s a lot of people that actually enjoy a shorter experience, something that they can sit down on a whatever Friday night, stick their headphones on, turn the lights off and kind of sink into an experience and players who don’t necessarily want something that is 50 hours long, a 100 hours long, so it’s as long as it needs to be. And I’m one of those people, I like shorter games.
“I think there’s a lot of pressure on people’s time these days and I think our fans, from what we hear from them, they enjoy a shorter game where our intention is that every step of that journey is meaningful… There’s an audience of people that want games that are focused.”
But given Hellblade 2’s shorter length, lower price point, and the fact that it will also be available via Game Pass, what exactly does success look like for Nina Theory? According to Matthews, there will be many metrics to judge the same, but chief among them will be how well the game’s story is received by fans.
“I think for us as a studio, well my focus as well as studio head is how can we empower the team here, the artists here to go and create an experience, and how do we get it out to the widest possible audience?” he said.
“I think success for us is, we would love for as many players to play our games as possible, but I think particularly with Hellblade we love and I love that magic that you can achieve by creating something that makes people think and feel. So if I think about the things that I want to achieve in Hellblade 2, once it’s released, the thing that will put the biggest smile on my face is to see fans of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and people who like those kind of game saying you’ve continued Senua’s journey in a way that is worthy of that character.”
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is set to launch on May 21 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.
