Developer Ninja Theory has announced that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is releasing on August 8 in North America and Europe for PlayStation 4 and PC as a digital-only title. It’s available to pre-order from the PlayStation Store, priced at $29.99/€29.99/£24.99.
In a message to fans, Ninja Theory’s Dominic Matthews explains that Hellblade is an Independent AAA roughly half the length of a regular AAA game, and is sold at half the price as a result:
In Hellblade, we are aiming to revive the lost space between indie and AAA gaming. Where creatively diverse experiences made with AAA values can thrive once again.
We’ve taken a small team of around 20 people and created a focused and rich experience that looks and feels as good as any blockbuster title. Hellblade is about half the length of a regular AAA game and priced at about half the cost. A price that we think is fair to both you and us.
Our hope is that if we make our Independent AAA work with Hellblade, other developers will follow, leading to a more creative and diverse gaming world for developers and players alike.
After saying that Hellblade has been in development for three years, Matthews added, “For those new to Hellblade, the game is the story of Senua, a traumatized Celtic warrior journeying into the Viking underworld of Hel. We have created the game in collaboration with neuroscientists as well as people who live with psychosis. We hope Hellblade is an experience like no other.”
By pre-ordering Hellblade on PS4, you’ll receive a Dynamic Theme that features the burning tree scene from the game.
If an estimate from 2014 still holds true, Hellblade needs to sell 300,000 copies for Ninja Theory to break even.
[Source: Ninja Theory, PlayStation Blog (1), (2)]
