Ninja Theory provided a healthy dollop of information about Hellblade 2 at today's Xbox Developer Direct, including confirmation that this will be a modestly priced, digital-only release that'll be similar in length to the original game.
"Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 will be a game crafted from the heart - a game similar in length to the first Hellblade, with a focused narrative, and sold digital-only at a price of $49.99 USD," the devs explain in a post on the official Xbox blog. The HowLongToBeat database puts the original Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice at anywhere from seven to nine hours for a single playthrough, so it seems we can expect a similar runtime here.
The devs aim to recapture the "independent AAA" ethos of the original game, "where we worked with the creative spirit and freedom of independent development but strove for the types of high-end production values often only associated with AAA games. We also took advantage of the freedom that digital-only distribution offered us to create a game of the length that fit perfectly with our intended experience but could be sold at a lower price to reflect the shorter length of our story."
Originally self-published by Ninja Theory, Hellblade was first released for $30 back in 2017. Some time later, the studio partnered with 505 Games for a physical version, which is still readily available today. Hellblade 2 will similarly launch as a digital-only title, though I suspect a later physical option is a bit less likely in this instance.
You will, of course, also be able to play Hellblade 2 through Xbox Game Pass. However you want to get in, the game launches on May 21, 2024.
