Ninja Theory’s ‘Project Mara’ has been officially cancelled

One of the biggest announcements during Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase was the official unveiling of Senua – the 3rd entry in Ninja Theory’s Hellblade series. While a welcome surprise, many fans were then wondering what has become of the studio’s previously-teased Project Mara. Unfortunately, according to the team, they “took the decision to not work on that any further.”

Taking part in a lengthy interview via the Xbox Wire blog, Ninja Theory’s studio head Dom Matthews was asked about the upcoming Senua, their reasons for not going with the title Hellblade 3 and the renewed focus on combat and gameplay.

In amongst these discussions, Matthews took time to speak on Project Mara. For the uninitiated, this was pitched back in 2020 as a horror experience focused around “real-world and grounded representation of mental terror”. At the time, Ninja theory shared two teasers: one being a more traditional sneak peek and the other being a developer diary.

Unfortunately, Project Mara has since been scrapped, with Matthews confirming “with the fact that we have the entire team working on [Senua], I suspect some people might ask what’s happened to Project Mara […] I took the decision to not work on that any further.”

Matthews continued, “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.”

While a disappointing conclusion, hopefully this does mean that Senua will represent Ninja Theory’s best work in a decade (at the very least on the gameplay front).

KitGuru says: What did you think of Project Mara back when it was first announced? Are you disappointed in its cancellation? Do you have high hopes for Senua? Let us know down below.

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