Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice gained critical appraise at it’s release , and was described as an Indie AAA game. Ninja Theory couldn’t have asked for a better reception as the game was well received by both the fans and the critics.
Recently in a developer diary it was announced that the game had performed remarkably well , and has gone on to sell on par with 500,000 units and is past it’s breakeven point and now in profit. The video also goes on to tell that the game has raked in $13 Million in revenue so far.
Hellblade was a refreshing new take in the horror genre and it’s portrayal of a protagonist who suffers from a myriad of psychological issues was unique to say the very least. Never before has there been a protagonist in a video game who has been a prisoner of it’s own mind and has gone on to tell a tale so deeply enriched with personal tragedy and loss that it urges the player to stay glued to their screens.
Hellblade’s achievements are even more noteworthy due to the fact that Ninja Theory made a pretty gutsy move to publish the game independently. Without the backing of a major publisher the game could have been just another one of those titles that didn’t get the recognition that it deserved, but Ninja Theory’s move has paid off brilliantly and we could see major games being published independently in the near future as well.
The dev dairy also touched upon the subject of talented developers feeling the wrath of these publishers , and showed a glimpse of Visceral Games and how it was shut down by EA for not fitting “Fitting the AAA mould” . Ninja Theory hopes that there experiences will encourage developers to follow suit and they hope that their dev diaries can inspire other developers to self publish their games.
You can watch the entire dev diary down below.
