Circana’s Mat Piscatella has shed some light on Hellblade 2 sales and Xbox engagement, leading to concerns about sustainability of such releases and Ninja Theory’s future. In terms of full U.S. dollar game sales (physical and digital), Hellblade 2 ranked 37th overall in May. On Xbox consoles specifically, it ranked 21st.
Why Hellblade 2 sales and engagement is worrying fans
When asked how Hellblade 2 fared as a Game Pass launch, Piscatella revealed that the game ranked 12th in terms of player engagement on Xbox for the month of May, beaten by 2018’s Fallout 76 at no. 11.
Hellblade 2 was slightly held back by lack of a physical release, but we’re not sure that would have made a huge difference.
Hellblade 2 had been in development for a long time and given that Ninja Theory doesn’t have much else to bank on, fans are worried that it’ll get the same treatment that Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks did. Despite Microsoft being happy with Hi-Fi Rush’s performance, Tango was shut down, with Xbox boss Phil Spencer saying that “hard decisions” have to be made.
Microsoft has reportedly greenlit Ninja Theory’s next game, so the studio might be safe for now, but Hellblade 2’s performance explains why the company wants to release some of its games on every platform under the sun.
