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Following the Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 release date announcement during the recently concluded Developer Direct showcase, Xbox later announced that Ninja Theory’s sequel would have a digital-only release, drawing the ire of several furious fans.
Ninja Theory studio head Dom Matthews stated in an Xbox Wire blog post that they “took advantage of the freedom that digital-only distribution offered [them] to create a game of the length that fit perfectly with [their] intended experience but could be sold at a lower price to reflect the shorter length of our story.” Naturally, this revelation prompted a wave of negative reactions from numerous players, with some already planning to skip it until the developers decide to launch a physical edition.
Users on X (formerly Twitter) wasted no time in sharing their disappointment at the situation as one fan said: “[As an] avid collector of physical media, [I’m] sad [this is] another game I won’t pick up on day 1, like Alan Wake 2.” In a separate comment, another person similarly shared: “Nope. [It’s] just like Alan Wake 2. At least I can play it on Game Pass, but I skipped Alan Wake 2 for this exact reason.”
It is worth noting that Ninja Theory’s first series entry, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, similarly received a digital-only launch due to the studio’s then-independent status. However, Microsoft’s acquisition of Ninja Theory in 2018 led many to believe that the developers would have more financial backing, allowing them to release a physical edition of the game. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case, and now, only time will tell whether they eventually decide to provide a disc-bound copy of the sequel.
Until then, check out our pages on the 2024 upcoming games list, the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle announcement, and the Avowed release date.
