The award-winning Xbox exclusive Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is branching out and coming to PlayStation 5 this summer. Developed by Ninja Theory, Hellblade II picks up after the first game, following the titular character into a richly detailed world of Viking myth and lore.
Dom Matthews, studio head at Ninja Theory, announced the news today via a YouTube video. “Today, on the one-year anniversary of the release of Senua’s Sage: Hellblade II, we’re excited to share some news with you on the game,” he says. “We’re so happy to tell you, our fans, that Hellblade II will be coming to PlayStation 5 this summer. This version of the game will include some new features that will also come to Xbox and PC at the same time as an update.”
The original Hellblade was available on PlayStation 4, but Xbox acquired Ninja Theory in 2018. The sequel was slated as an Xbox exclusive, but the studio says it is pleased to bring its PlayStation fans back to Senua’s ongoing story.
Ninja Theory didn’t specify what the enhanced features would include, but don’t worry. They’re coming to existing platforms as part of an update with the launch of the PlayStation 5 version of the game.
Both Hellblade games have positioned themselves amid a brutal world and used that setting to explore mental health. Rather than focusing on over-the-top gameplay, Hellblade II takes a more narrative approach and tells a tightly-focused story in roughly seven hours or so of playtime.
The title’s focus on narrative won it a nomination for Best Narrative and Games for Impact at The Game Awards, and it brought home the prize for Best Audio Design and Best Performance by its lead voice artist. Use of binaural audio means different sounds play in different ears, and the quiet whispers of voices that aren’t there, combined with Senua’s sometimes ragged breathing, make the series one of the best depictions of serious mental health issues ever seen in video games.
