Ninja Theory has confirmed that the Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 release date will arrive on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 for Xbox players and Game Pass subscribers. The news confirms previous reports regarding when Senua will return.
Writing for Xbox Wire, studio head Dom Matthews says that Hellblade 2 will be a digital-only release and will retail for $49.99. As such, it might be time to give your best Xbox expansion card a spring clean ahead of launch.
The Hellblade 2 release date was set in stone during the Xbox Developer Direct, as part of a feature presentation on the highly-anticipated addition to the list of Xbox exclusives. During the showcase, Matthews promises players “an unforgettable journey […] where we have combined high fidelity and immersive presentation with a shorter, narrative-led experience.” In the Xbox Wire article, he confirms that the game will be “similar in length to the first Hellblade.”
Ninja Theory is certainly looking to go bigger and better on the gameplay elements this time around. The face and voice of Senua, Melina Juergens, says it best: “on Saga, we’ve taken everything to the next level.” Throughout the presentation, we’re given a glimpse into the gorgeously grotesque reimagining of 10th-century Iceland, as Senua seeks to cull the Viking threat to her people at its source. From what we’ve seen, Juergens isn’t joking.
As an example of this, Juergens notes that the studio’s motion capture operation has expanded significantly, granting more space to breathe life into Senua. Additionally, Juergens says that her in-game counterpart has also grown since her previous outing: “she’s made peace with her past, and is no longer in fear of her visions and voices.” However, the voices remain a crucial part of Senua’s lived experience in Hellblade 2, so grab your best Xbox headsets and prepare for another binaural banger.
And it’s not just the voices that will saunter across your eardrums, either. Audio Director David Garcia Diaz says binaural audio is being expanded this time around. “In the first game we only applied it to the voices Senua hears inside her head,” he explains. “In this game, through a special audio technology […] there is music that is binaural – every single sound has the potential to be binaural – so everything is spatialized around you and it’s a very beautiful experience.”
The May 21 release date might not be a major revelation if you’ve been keeping up to date with the latest rumors. Now we have concrete confirmation from Ninja Theory itself, though, it’s going to be an agonizing wait between now and the launch of what’s shaping up to be one of the best games of 2024.