Skip to main content

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 set to launch on May 21 for PC and Xbox

Hellblade 2
Microsoft

During the January 2024 Xbox Developer Direct, Ninja Theory announced that Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 will launch on May 21 for PC and Xbox Series X|S. It will also arrive on Xbox Game Pass at launch.

The developer showed a brand new release date trailer showcasing the game’s impressively realistic graphics and gruesome gameplay. Senua wants to get revenge on the Vikings who have enslaved her people and goes to Iceland to face the threat at the source. As she has psychosis, she’ll hear voices throughout her journey, finding patterns and clues around her.

Recommended Videos

There are also new combat encounters where she fights off grotesque enemies as they try to grab her. Ninja Theory said they want the player to feel how Senua isn’t a superhero and how she’s struggling to survive and barely getting by.

Developer_Direct 2024 – Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was initially revealed in The Game Awards 2019 so it’s been a long four years since. While its predecessor, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, was a multiplatform console release as it was also on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the sequel will be exclusive to Microsoft’s ecosystem. Microsoft acquired Ninja Theory in 2018 to bolster Xbox’s lineup of first-party game studios. Other games Ninja Theory has worked on while under the Microsoft banner so far include 2020’s Bleeding Edge and the upcoming Project Mara. The former was a multiplayer combat game released for PC and Xbox One. The latter was teased in 2020 and billed as an experimental game exploring mental horror.

Before Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, we also got a new look at Avowed.

George Yang
George Yang is a freelance games writer for Digital Trends. He has written for places such as IGN, GameSpot, The Washington…
You’ll have to wait just a little longer for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
A Stalker from Stalker 2 looks off in the distance with a radioactive symbol behind him.

Upcoming survival game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has been delayed yet again, but unlike some of its other delays, it's only by around two months. Developer GSC Game World posted a video and statement on Thursday saying the game's release, which was previously set for September 5, will now be November 20. It wrote that the developers want to take the time to fix some bugs (or "anomalies," as it calls them).

The video, posted on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), says the zone will remain "out of bounds" until that date. The player character then opens their table to see the new date. "Really?" they say. "Again?"

Read more
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl: release date, trailers, gameplay
Key art for Stalker 2. A character in a lit-up gas mask and a gun on their back.

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is the next hotly anticipated entry in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise. The game is releasing over 13 years after the last entry in the series, and it's making its debut on consoles as an Xbox Series X exclusive.

Developer GSC Game World was forced to delay this title after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and uprooted the team members' lives. Despite the hardships and tragedy every member of the team no doubt suffered, and all the sacrifices they made, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl was not abandoned and the team pushed on to continue developing the game.

Read more
Replaced is the Hellblade 2 of pixel art games
Key art for Replaced. It's a closeup of a map with a cyberpunk-looking train laid out under him.

Replaced reminds of me a lot of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, in a good way. The latter game, from Ninja Theory's, is a visual spectacle with extremely cinematic combat and gorgeous set pieces that I won't be forgetting anytime soon. While Hellblade 2 did that with Unreal Engine 5, Replaced is going to do the same with pixel art.

Replaced has had some amazing trailers across various gaming showcases over the past few years, so I was stoked to go hands-on with it at Summer Game Fest Play Days. Now that I have, I can't wait to see more from this adventure that might put even Square Enix's HD-2D RPGs to shame.

Read more