Workers at Ninja Theory, the Cambridge studio behind Hellblade, have begun posting on LinkedIn that they have lost their jobs or that their roles are at risk. The posts, first spotted by journalist Chris Kerr, come from very different profiles: a technical director, a gameplay programmer, sound designers and technical artists, among others. The signal is the same as in so many other rounds of cuts: there is no press release, there are résumés.
A closure consultation still without figures
Neither Xbox nor Ninja Theory has said how many people are affected, and the closure remains, officially, only a proposal. The detail that weighs the most comes from the staff themselves: gameplay programmer Katrin Mair wrote that it was sad knowing «we won’t get to finish what we were working on». It is the sentence that sums up the moment, because the project in question has a name.
From a sale plan to a proposed closure
Ninja Theory was supposed to survive the 3,200-job «reset» that Xbox announced in July. At the time, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the studio had entered terms to join new ownership, with funding to finish Senua. That plan fell apart in September, when Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty told staff that «two separate agreements for Ninja Theory fell through» and that a consultation on the proposed closure would begin. Booty added that the company would keep looking at alternatives, though there has been no update since. The situation fits the steady drip of cuts we have been following, such as the wave of 268 layoffs confirmed in September.
What happens to Senua, the third Hellblade
Senua, the third chapter in the saga, was revealed in June during the Xbox Games Showcase with a 2027 release window on PC, Xbox and PlayStation 5. Xbox has not officially cancelled it, but the game’s future now depends on a decision that has not been made and on a team that, on paper, is no longer whole. Xbox also had an all-hands meeting planned for October 6, so more details on the real scope of the move are likely to surface in the coming days.
What it means for players
For the player, the practical consequence is not a delayed release, but uncertainty over a catalogue. Hellblade earned its place with a very specific narrative bet, and that kind of exclusive is exactly what a console needs across the generation to justify buying it. If the closure is confirmed, Xbox loses one of its studios with a more recognisable voice and leaves a franchise that was meant to be its calling card for 2027 up in the air. The decision about the console does not change today, but the catalogue argument — the one that weighs so heavily when choosing a platform — grows a little weaker.
