Hellblade ‘aims to bring back the mid-sized game’ but goes digital-only

Ninja Theory’s upcoming action title Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has been dated for August 8th, the developer announced today, with pricing confirmed at 24.99 on PS4 and PC.

That might sound comparatively cheap to other triple-A-style titles, but Ninja Theory’s Dominic Matthews said the studio’s aim has been to "bring back the mid-sized game" with Hellblade – something that’s become increasingly scarce in today’s market bar the odd ambitious indie title like Rime and Yooka-Laylee.

Hellblade is still a "triple-A quality game," Matthews explains, but it’s also "half the size" of your average blockbuster, so the team of 20 have decided to price the title accordingly.

It’s also decided to go digital-only to keep costs down, which will no doubt come as a disappointment to retailers looking to increase the range and scope of titles on shop shelves.

"If we can make Hellblade a success, others will follow to make games richer and a more varied place for both gamers and developers," Matthews added.

Firstannounced back at Gamescom 2014, Hellblade’s had a rather bumpy road to release. In 2015 there were rumblings a lot of work had been scrapped on the title, but the studio reassured fans that it was still very much on track to launch before 2017.In December 2016, however, the team decided to push the title backeven further to 2017.