Ninja Theory Cancels Project Mara in Favor of Senua, Hellblade II Sequel
No horrors by the studio for now.
Ninja Theory
Ninja Theory's Senua's Saga: Hellblade II wasn't a commercial success, peaking at 3,982 concurrent players on Steam and drowning direct sales in the Xbox Game Pass. So when the studio announced Senua, another game in the series, I was mildly surprised.
Back in 2024, Ninja Theory decided to focus on "various future projects," one of which was Project Mara, an experimental horror game that touches upon mental health issues. Alas, this title is not in the company's plans now.
Ninja Theory's studio head, Dom Matthews, announced that the project had been canceled to concentrate the team's efforts on Senua.
"And with the fact that we have the entire team working on this game, I suspect some people might ask what’s happened to Project Mara [a previously announced horror title] – I took the decision to not work on that any further. These decisions are never easy, but I did so to take the opportunity to have all of the talent and expertise in the studio, all 85 creatives, working together to realize the potential of what Senua can be."
I guess some sacrifices had to be made for another chapter in the franchise, and isn't that a true horror story?
I personally suspect that this decision was influenced by Xbox Game Studios, Ninja Theory's parent company. We know what happened with Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, and I'm sure NT doesn't want the same ending.
Mara was announced in 2020, and it's hard to think about what the developers might be feeling now, losing so many years of work.
Hopefully, the new Senua will be worth it.
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