• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Rumour: Heavenly Sword 2 Axed, Ninja Theory Moving

T

TheOddOne

Member
http://kotaku.com/5017126/heavenly-sword-2-axed-ninja-theory-moving

An inside UK source tells us that Heavenly Sword 2 has been canned by Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe. The game was axed after months in development because it is no longer seen as commercially viable, our source tells us.

The news came during an emergency meeting set up for the Sony Cambridge team which was working on the game.

On a side note, Ninja Theory, who have already said they weren't working on the sequel to their Playstation 3 exclusive, have grown increasingly bitter about their treatment at Sony's hands, our source tells us. I'm told that the development studio, which once had offices in the same building as Sony Cambridge, have started packing up to move to a new location.

I guess when they said they wanted to move away from Sony and get into multi-platform development they weren't kidding.

If true, this marks the third major project, counting Eight Days and Getaway 3, that has been canned by SCEE. Is the Europe arm of Sony in trouble? No clue, but we've asked for comment.
Click to expand...

Sony in trouble? i laugh in your face kotaho!
 
P

pswii60

Member
Heavenly Sword didn't exactly set the world on fire, makes sense to concentrate on a new IP rather than a sequel.
 
B

badcrumble

Member
Bitter? Ninja Theory should be grateful that they got millions of dollars in funding with such a thin resume. I'm glad Sony has seen the light and shitcanned them and their waste-of-cash IP, and I hope some of that money can go toward JRPGs instead.

Anyhow, now that I know there won't be a sequel it's finally time to trade in my copy of HS.
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
Love to see what they can do without Sony breathing down their necks. Hopefully they can make a game longer than three hours.
 
F

Farnack

Banned
These guys are going to be hard pressed to find a good publisher now.

Microsoft wouldn't let them make Heavenly Sword, Sony did but they're still unhappy and leaving. Sheesh. Stubborn developers.
 
K

klee123

Member
badcrumble said:
Bitter? Ninja Theory should be grateful that they got millions of dollars in funding with such a thin resume. I'm glad Sony has seen the light and shitcanned them and their waste-of-cash IP, and I hope some of that money can go toward JRPGs instead.

Anyhow, now that I know there won't be a sequel it's finally time to trade in my copy of HS.
Click to expand...
.
 
G

Greg

Member
Ran like shit.
Played like... oh, it's over already?

The game had an 'ending' - I'm glad it's stopping there.
 
A

Amon37

Member
The first HS didn't have any real cliffhanger ending so no HS2 is not really a big deal story wise. I would have liked to have seen the gameplay expanded on though.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
I'm really curious to play through the first game JUST to see Serkis' performance and hear more "Twing-Twang" dialogue.

Unfortunately I am half-retarded and can't come close to figuring out what the hell the game expects of me during that first boss fight. There is a savage disconnect going on with how I am supposed to approach playing the game.
 
karasu

karasu

Member
Andrex said:
Love to see what they can do without Sony breathing down their necks. Hopefully they can make a game longer than three hours.
Click to expand...

Kung Fu Chaos. MS had no interest in HS.
 
P

pswii60

Member
Farnack said:
These guys are going to be hard pressed to find a good publisher now.

Microsoft wouldn't let them make Heavenly Sword, Sony did but they're still unhappy and leaving. Sheesh. Stubborn developers.
Click to expand...
And everyone laughed in their faces for turning it down. Before it released.

I remember that interview on 1UP with Luke Smith and Shane Kim. Luke was hammering down on Shane as to why they didn't turn it down as if it was a completely stupid decision or something.

Sony had to invest a lot in NT to get HS finished, not least with all their resources at Sony Cambridge. Personally I didn't think it was a bad game, but it wasn't of AA or even AAA first party calibur, and it was incredibly short with lame QTE bits. Nice graphics though, but that's likely all down to Sony Cambridge.
 
Randy Lanzarote

Randy Lanzarote

Member
It looks like Sony are trying to put more of their financial backing towards project that are geared towards online integration rather than titles that provide only a single player challenge. The emphasis seems to be on titles such LBP/Killzone/R2, games that have a strong multiplayer component, and of course they are still beavering away on Home and bringing PSN up to speed.

Last holiday season saw a lot of acclaimed SP titles hit the PS3, but it didn't seem that they provided the sales bump Sony were looking for. Perhaps were seeing a change of strategy from them of late as regards to the sort of gamers they are trying to attract.

PSWII60 said:
And everyone laughed in their faces for turning it down. Before it released.
Click to expand...

I remember that interview, everyone on the interwebz slammed Kim for it. Personally I think that not handing a blank cheque to a studio on their second game is a pretty good business decision.
 
D

Die Squirrel Die

Member
Brandon F said:
I'm really curious to play through the first game JUST to see Serkis' performance and hear more "Twing-Twang" dialogue.

Unfortunately I am half-retarded and can't come close to figuring out what the hell the game expects of me during that first boss fight. There is a savage disconnect going on with how I am supposed to approach playing the game.
Click to expand...

Which is the first boss fight, my memory is hazy.
 
F

filopilo

Member
Andrex said:
Love to see what they can do without Sony breathing down their necks. Hopefully they can make a game longer than three hours.
Click to expand...
Sony doesn't breath down necks,that's the point.Maybe they should have...

Way to spin things kotaku ! . NT isn't first party ,now they are multiplateform ,so there is no reason for sony to give them housing.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
Andrex said:
Love to see what they can do without Sony breathing down their necks. Hopefully they can make a game longer than three hours.
Click to expand...

Their previous game was Kung Fu Chaos. I know Heavenly Sword is a hated game on these forums, but it was a MAJOR step up for a company with almost zero resume.
 
Y

yellowjacket

Member
Am I the only one who liked the original? Improve the gameplay (add a jump button and emphasize the stances more), tighten up the graphics (get rid of screen tearing) and make it longer and I would buy the sequel in a second.
 
T

TheJollyCorner

Member
Andrex said:
Love to see what they can do without Sony breathing down their necks. Hopefully they can make a game longer than three hours.
Click to expand...


:lol wouldn't you breathe down someone's neck if you had invested multiple MILLIONS on a project and the media was looking at it to be some kind of phenomenon? Hell, Sony even alloted them an additional, what, 7 months to finish the game?

oh, but yeah, Sony was totally mean to Ninja Theory. Bastards!





Regardless, I'm saddened. I actually really enjoyed Heavenly Sword. The character modeling and overall graphics were amazing... and I actually had fun with the gameplay. It's a shame there won't be another one, as I figured
even without Nariko
the game could still become some kind of franchise.
Oh well. :(
 
Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Andrex said:
Love to see what they can do without Sony breathing down their necks. Hopefully they can make a game longer than three hours.
Click to expand...

Are you really going to blame Sony for pouring millions of dollars into a new IP from an untested studio? Really? Really?

Wow, I'm sure a ton of studios that have never done a game before would love for Sony to breathe down their necks. Sounds sexy almost.
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Err...were we expecting a Heavenly Sword 2?

I figured after NT already moved on that it kind of sealed HS's fate as a potential franchise.
 
N

Nolan.

Member
Well no offense but if I was sony I wouldn't care about how they felt after they wasted such a budget. Though if I was sony I wouldn't have given them the budget in the first place. Also i'm interested to see their next project and what happens there.
 
O

otake

Doesn't know that "You" is used in both the singular and plural
yellowjacket said:
Am I the only one who liked the original? Improve the gameplay (add a jump button and emphasize the stances more), tighten up the graphics (get rid of screen tearing) and make it longer and I would buy the sequel in a second.
Click to expand...


i loved the original but it was flawed and didn't sell. I just wish someone else copies the combat engine.
 
B

badcrumble

Member
Gamer @ Heart said:
This thread just reminded me i never got past the last bosses thrid form. Fuck him!
Click to expand...
Watch the ending on YouTube or something. It's just a glorified (read: less fun and more obtuse) Phantom Ganon reflect-fest with some dodging thrown in.
 
P

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
With all these canned SCEE projects it almost feel like Yoshida (new SCE WWS head) remembered when SCE used to boast about having the largest and best stable of first party studios and decided "hey, we can cut costs on an area that REALLY does not matter!" and started canning games left and right (after firing quite a bit of people in the past year or so).
 
P

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
pswii60 said:
Nice graphics though, but that's likely all down to Sony Cambridge.
Click to expand...

No, that's short-selling a lot of work done by NT guys (several of which are not with NT anymore though).
 
D

Diablos

Member
That's really too bad. Heavenly Sword is a great game and Ninja Theory deserved better (IF this rumor is true). I was really looking forward to a sequel.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Panajev2001a said:
With all these canned SCEE projects it almost feel like Yoshida (new SCE WWS head) remembered when SCE used to boast about having the largest and best stable of first party studios and decided "hey, we can cut costs on an area that REALLY does not matter!" and started canning games left and right (after firing quite a bit of people in the past year or so).
Click to expand...

Wait... did i miss something?
 
J

Jim

Member
Ninja Theory has more or less disbanded (if you compare to what they were during HS development), with a lot of the best talent jumping ship to various other places (i.e. SCEA Santa Monica for one)
 
D

Doubledex

Banned
Jim said:
Ninja Theory has more or less disbanded (if you compare to what they were during HS development), with a lot of the best talent jumping ship to various other places (i.e. SCEA Santa Monica for one)
Click to expand...
wut?
 
H

harSon

Banned
Jim said:
Ninja Theory has more or less disbanded (if you compare to what they were during HS development), with a lot of the best talent jumping ship to various other places (i.e. SCEA Santa Monica for one)
Click to expand...

Did they swim to California after jumping ship?
 
D

DemonSwordsman

Banned
Doubledex said:
wut?
Click to expand...


god_of_war_iii_ps3-747513.jpg
 
J

jax (old)

Banned
well, heavenly sword fell on its on sword. *ahem*

nothing to do with sony that it turned out to be shitty (well uber short and weaksauce because of it). I've got my copy but I've yet to get past the first twing twang stage. Just not feeling it.


and I bought it inspite of all the bad press. And the graphics aren't all that
 
B

badcrumble

Member
Jim said:
Ninja Theory has more or less disbanded (if you compare to what they were during HS development), with a lot of the best talent jumping ship to various other places (i.e. SCEA Santa Monica for one)
Click to expand...
Hopefully God of War 3 will equal or surpass the technical and artistic achievements of Heavenly Sword without bringing along any of its game design. I think it's got a simple enough formula that I'm not worried about that.

edit: honestly, I wouldn't mind an alternate stance in God of War 3 like HS's speed stance, but I don't know if that could fit the gameplay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ninja Theory's Ambitious First Villain: Heavenly Sword's "King Bohan" (Video Analysis)
33
2K
HyperBitHero replied
Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades has left the studio
News 2 3
128
12K
Mr Hyde replied
Phil Spencer interview - Says that their intent is for all Xbox games, including Call of Duty, to be available on Xbox Game Pass Day One
2 3
102
8K
Kenneth Haight replied
The State of Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks: A breakdown of all the Confirmed Projects, Leaks, and Rumors
Opinion News Rumor 2
84
10K
Ozriel replied
  • x2
Ctrl+Alt+Deceive: All The Dirt, Info, Lies, and LOLs We Found During FTC vs. Microsoft
2 3 4 5 6
293
32K
Heisenberg007 replied
Top Bottom