Hellblade developer Ninja Theory has begun laying off staff and faces imminent closure after two separate acquisition deals fell through, leaving the future of its newly announced game Senua uncertain just months after its showcase reveal.
Xbox announced last month that Ninja Theory faces potential closure as part of its second wave of business restructuring. In the early months of this year, Microsoft revealed intentions to spin off a number of its development teams, such as Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Undead Labs. While most of the studios on that list have managed to find new homes, two deals to save the company didn’t pan out.
Ninja Theory Cuts Staff at Cambridge Studio
Following those discussions, actual layoffs have taken place as Xbox moved Sea of Thieves creator Rare and Age of Empires team World’s Edge to the Activision group, while Obsidian was placed under Bethesda. Multiple developers across engineering, art, and audio disciplines have announced on professional networking sites that their positions have ended or that they are at immediate risk of redundancy.
The wave of affected talent spans key technical pillars of the studio. Confirmed departures and at-risk staff include technical sound designer Alessio Mellina, gameplay programmer Katrin Mair, performance capture technical staff Xoe Suvari, technical director Loong-Wei Ding, sound designer Matteo Tummino, senior technical artist Matt Le-Fevre, character artist Pietro Berto, technical artist Justin Pedersen, and principal sound designer Daniele Galante.
After four years, it’s hard to put into words how much this place and the people in it have meant to me. I’ve learned an incredible amount, grown so much as a programmer, and had the chance to work with some genuinely brilliant people.
Katrin Mair, Gameplay Programmer
It’s incredibly sad knowing that we won’t get to finish what we were working on. So much care, talent and effort went into it, and I really wish we’d had the chance to see what it could have become.
Katrin Mair, Gameplay Programmer
Other team members highlighted the specialized infrastructure they built. Alessio Mellina, who spent 12 years with the studio working on the binaural audio that powered Hellblade’s haunting whispers, noted that as the only technical sound designer he was the owner of most dynamic audio systems on recent projects.
Senua Project Faces Uncertain Future Amid Xbox Cuts
The wind-down casts serious doubt on Senua, the third entry in the Hellblade franchise. Microsoft officially revealed the title during the Xbox Games Showcase event in June 2026, attaching a 2027 release window and targeting the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.
Industry reporting indicates that Microsoft had already decided to part ways with or shut down Ninja Theory before that June showcase. Subsequent coverage by Game File revealed that Xbox had already set its sights on offloading Ninja Theory during this period, using the Senua promotional footage to court prospective buyers—an effort that apparently failed to secure a transaction. With those buyout agreements failing, cancellation for the project now looks all but certain.
The studio’s closure forms part of a corporate realignment across Microsoft’s gaming division. Last month’s second part of its reset and restructuring resulted in 268 people laid off, following an initial wave of 1,600 job cuts.
It’s incredibly sad knowing that we won’t get to finish what we were working on. So much care, talent and effort went into it, and I really wish we’d had the chance to see what it could have become.
Katrin Mair, Gameplay Programmer
