
Xbox and Ninja Theory have officially started the hype train for the release of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 later this month, and as part of this, some interesting details have been confirmed about the game's aspect ratio.
Taking to social media earlier this week, Ninja Theory shared the screenshot you see above, highlighting that Hellblade 2 is "looking ultra nice" on PC. A commenter then asked how the game will look for people with non-ultrawide screens, and the developer revealed that letterboxing will be present "on your average display".
If you don't know what this means, it sounds like Hellblade 2 will come with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen on these "average displays", whereas they won't be present on ultrawide monitors. There's no word yet on whether this is forced on the player or whether it's optional - so hopefully we'll get more details soon.
You can see some examples of what Hellblade 2 might look like on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC in the images below - these are all official screenshots that indicate how letterboxing will likely appear due to the 2.39:1 aspect ratio.
Thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments section below.
Comments 82
Im not a fan of this decision. I hate the idea of catering to the small percentage of users with ultra wide displays and making "average display" users suffer. Put an optional aspect ratio in for those niche users and do it post launch if you have to. Prioritize the standard users.
I'm still excited to try this game but there have been some red flags lurking below the surface. If I don't lower my expectations I'm starting to believe I will be disappointed.
I like that xbox lets their studios do what they want. I think that is the right strategy for a major publisher with Microsoft money but these studios are making the most bone-headed decisions. Where is the self awareness? As an xbox studio you should not be prioritizing the high end pc users. Sadly, it will probably end with xbox executives making the "creative" (lucrative) decisions instead of the studios.
Why do they feel the need to mess up the launch of each and every first party title?
Really?! Is this actually common in games and I've just never noticed (I certainly notice when I'm watching TV)?
Why is this even a thing? Good Lord Microsoft, you're already screwing up another game before it comes out.
It's like Xbox is trying to fail at this point... there's no way this "design choice" doesn't negatively affect reviews.
I could understand this decision on consoles as a means to reduce the number of pixels needed to render on a 4K tv and therefore help with performance.
I hope this isn’t the case on pc - I use 1440p 27” monitor so really don’t want to be playing at ultrawide 27” 1080p. My screen resolution and size will make for a seriously crappy image.
Didn’t care much for the first game but was thinking of giving this a shot… but man, they’re doing everything they can to deter me from even trying it. Not only have the gameplay and cutscenes not interested me, but the lack of a 60fps option and forcing a widescreen aspect ratio is just so weird. If you want the game to feel like a movie… then just make a movie lol.
Xbox just keep digging the hole and once finished put yourselves in it and I will come and fill the hole up for you.
What the hell are you playing at, just what I don’t want in my nice new X95L 65” TV.
We get some good Starfield news yesterday, though should have been there at release, though they are setting up for a PS5 release.
Now today we get this rubbish.
No wonder you can’t sell consoles and probably gamepass.
You are self destructive. ABK is the only reason last quarter you were up, without them down 4%.
I thought we got rid of square TVs to stop this happening, is this just going to keep happening until TVs are just this ring that runs along all four of our walls?
Xbox sure does like to kick its own hype in the shins, what's next Gears 6 exclusively plays in a portrait layout to give it a TikTok vibe?
Baffling decision.
Will wait till it gets patched to cater to the other 99.6% of displays.
@OldGamer999 i dont think that starfield will ever come to ps. Every month is the same story its geting old….
@DarkCvrle25
I was posting yesterday on it and did think what you say. But with all the updates which will make it a lot better and the new dlc.
It is just begging for a PS5 release and a new review and lease of life.
I think they would make good money in it.
Weird choice but we see this all the time with movies. Plus, since it will be a short game I really don’t mind. If we were talking about 30+ hours game that would be more of a problem for me
@OldGamer999 i think only they r porting is live service games and small AA cuz everything else would kill xbox. Only because they r updating it and dlc is coming doesnt mean its going to ps. If this time next year nothing releses we can say that 4 games were one time thing
Yeah, I'm holding off until it's inevitably patched along with 60fps. Like c'mon, if Starfield gets 60fps, so can Hellblade 2!
Also screw this "cinematic" BS, YOU ARE MAKING A GAME! YOU ARE CATERING TO GAMERS!! MOST OF US DON'T CARE ABOUT THESE HANDICAPS!!!
I hands down think they're doing this as TGA bait cuz journalists will eat it up anything artsy. I really really would like to play AAA games at launch again, but they'll never be finished at launch anymore it seems.
@DarkCvrle25
Depends what you mean by kill Xbox.
They don’t care to much for consoles sales so that wouldn’t bother them.
@Yorozayu
They don’t care for their own console, sales show that. They don’t advertise it on TV etc and promote it in the shops etc.
I know Xbox always gets the hate for these things, but it's a bigger industry-wide problem which is the root of most of the problems in the industry. Every developer seems hellbent on pushing whatever the newest, latest, bestest, most premium technology available is even when they know less than 10% of the market actually has it, is pretty much always geared exclusively toward ultra-enthusiast-money-is-no-object PC builders, and guarantees everybody except those people get a compromised experience.
And then they can't figure out why they don't sell 20M copies on launch weekend. They live so far up their own sphincters in these "art studios" of theirs they don't even recognize who their market is or isn't they're just giddy to play with the bleeding edge of tech because it's there.
This follows FFXVI promoting their support of ultrawide onthe upcoming PC release. WTF are you going to see on an ultrawide in a game that's mostly in corridors, stays locked on on enemy in battles, and can't even maintain decent framerates at 16:9, more wall texture? Why is everything targeting ultrawide? Nobody has an ultrawide montior. Most monitors are 16:10, not 16:9 so it makes it even worse on normal PCs vs TVs. I assume hardware makers are paying devs to promote their newest toys (at the cost of the game's market.) This is why the industry is failing.
@OldGamer999 @Yorozayu This is bigger than "not caring about the Xbox console" it also doesn't care about PS5, or Steamdeck, or any of the handheld PCs, or the supposed Xbox handheld, or, like 80+% of Steam users, or the mobile users that make up a good chunk of GP/streaming subs, the future streaming stick, or really everyone. It basically ignores everyone that's not running a $5k rig. Pure "arthouse" stupidity.
Stupid if it's forced. But man, you people complain about something not confirmed yet.
@NEStalgia
Well it will be their loss with less sales and sales of consoles and game pass.
I think they have a death wish, most of the time.
@NEStalgia
Well at least we won’t get any of this bollocks from Nintendo.
Why did this take 5+ years?
@Lup I mean, the article pretty much has a developer confirming it. So, you know...
@BacklogBrad I wonder why can't it be middle ground between Sony's crunch culture and Microsoft hands-off approach.
@Benjamin
Very good question and only a 7 hour type of game and probably lots of cinematic stuff.
It’s because Xbox don’t it don’t know how to manage their game studios.
And the designers will be taking up most of the time messing around and getting all artist like.
Leaving less time for game development and programming etc.
@OldGamer999
Certainly, we won't get this bollocks from Nintendo. We'll get the opposite of this, Assassin's Creed meets The Legend of Zelda Chapter 3 in 20fps 720p. The three of them have their own bunch of problems this generation, but I'm enjoying the Series X the most.
@OldGamer999
It's not that Xbox doesn't know how to manage their studios, but what I posted earlier (#29). Think about it.
friends, just prepare to go ps6, pc, or maybe even nintendo next gen. even if xbox makes another console its gonna be more of the same let downs and less and less 3rd party support as the xbox brand fades away.
and no, an xbox/pc hybrid wont save it. there are only a billion things wrong with that. don't want to be treated like trash, don't buy into xbox.
i have the series x and s for playing games i have bought and im sure they will outlast the series game store cause you bet they can't wait to shut that down.
No big surprise as all the video presentations have been ultra-widescreen and 30fps, but I can’t say I’m a fan of either decision. I think it would have more impact if they presented the cut scenes in ultra wide and the gameplay was left in 16:9 (with a performance mode option for those that prefer to play their games that way).
@Banjo-
But the hands off approach isn’t managing.
And every team and person needs managing
If you want the best.
I’m a head manager and at times my vice president gives me the right direction.
The hands of approach doesn’t work and Xbox is proving that so far.
@Banjo-
I think since the series x and PS5 released
The first two years.
First PS5 because of exclusives in the first two years.
Then joint second Switch and Series x.
The third year was a bit different
Nintendo first
Then series x
Then PS5 third not many exclusives for me in 2023.
This year 2024 I’m all over the show and cannot settle on any really, been a strange gaming year for me so far in 2024.
I’m hoping the second half of the 2024 is better for me.
@OldGamer999
So not bad management but lack of management. That's what I said above as you can see, when I mentioned the hands-off approach. The hands-off approach, as I said, doesn't work.
That is also why certain Xbox studios are doing great while others haven't done anything until Crystal Dynamics came to their rescue. Not managing studios is a waste of money and time.
Every article I read makes me less interested in this game.
Don't care much about there being letterboxing. I will probably bounce between Series X on the big screen and PC with 3440x1440 monitor.
@Banjo-
I knew what you meant, just thought I would explain myself/direction.
So what makes you think? Why Xbox don’t manage more and get things right, it’s not that hard to do really. They have the money and enough personnel to do it with.
Wow, nice 4K 120HZ tv you have there. It'd be a shame if we released a 30fps game with an anamorphic aspect ratio. Also we hate video games and we hate you.
@OldGamer999 That's the important question and what I want to know. Xbox could be friendly bosses as they want to, but still manage all their studios properly. Not doing so is a waste of resources and time. Not just that, but it could also mean IPs disappearing completely if the studios don't want to work on them but on games that maybe they like to make because they are experimental, but not necessarily good and what players want to see. The hands-off approach also mean more internal arguments about the projects.
On top of that, they have acquired studios that clearly are lost without guidance and even founded a studio that was chaotic and useless for years, but they didn't acquire Crystal Dynamics when it was on sale. It doesn't make any sense. Xbox has the biggest development workforce in the industry, so they should know or they should learn how to manage that properly, because what they have is priceless and a big part of it is wasted. I just hope that they realise because I think that Xbox is great overall, with the best hardware, controller, subscriptions, backwards compatibility and services.
Guess I'm in the small percentage that is excited for a developer to utilize all current Gen tech to really push the boundaries. I guess I assumed that an ultrawide was an obvious investment and upgrade for pc gamers. It benefits every single thing you do on a computer and is literally the first thing that's actually impressed the hell out of me in years and I'll never go back. That being said, I'm sorry for the people that simply can't afford it and are truly looking forward to this modern masterpiece. But games like this that are moments, not just releases, moments in gaming need to exceed expectations and assumptions even if it pisses some people off. This is how we move forward. I'm sorry, but it is.
I weren't planning on playing this. But I don't like that it's forced. They're like kinda forcing us to get a ultra wide monitor.
Can't wait for this game and being on Gamepass day one at no extra cost, great.
@OldGamer999 That's already happening. It just seems like the industry is made up entirely of PC ubernerds who seem entirely unaware that not every gamer is running a liquid cooled heavily overcooked machine with dual SLI'd cards of whatever the latest $1500+ GPU is. They seem to think that's the default.
@NEStalgia i on purpose clicked on this article to scroll and find you to say yet again.. why is Square doing widescreen on FF16? We have laughed, discussed and scratched our heads on that discussion. I just played the game yesterday and really tried to see an area where i thought ok maybe here it would be cool… and no. I could not cause that’s not what the world is built for. Man i can’t wait to see someone boot that up on their widescreen display and all they see is a closed off section of the map. They are going to really be upset. Every time i build my dream PC setup online just to see what it will cost me. I always skip over the widescreen monitors.
Wow a lot of people are making a far bigger deal out of this than is necessary. The majority of dramas on TV nowadays are 2.39:1 or 2:1 so have black bars, and it everyone copes with it. The fact is they're going for a more cinematic aesthetic, and there's really nothing wrong with that
They should have just made a movie at this point
Funny thing is that a few months ago I changed my LG 29”ultrawide for another LG, this time a 32”4K thinking that not many games supported my older display anyway… #funnynotfunny
Between the letterbox, the cinematic pretensions and the short runtime Hellblade 2 sounds more and more like this generation “The order 1886”
Because this is the critically acclaimed Sony experience, coming to your Xbox. At least we won't be paying £€$70 for the ticket but play it on Game Pass.
@Withinmyself I didn’t buy an ultrawide monitor because I couldn’t afford one. I chose a conventional monitor screen because I wanted an oled and ultrawide is absolutely terrible for competitive shooters. I’d rather have higher frame rates by rendering less pixels, more desk space and less risk of burn in from titles that don’t support ultrawide - Particularly true for the occasions that I connect the ps5 or switch.
@NEStalgia "Most monitors are 16:10, not 16:9 so it makes it even worse on normal PCs vs TVs"
What monitor is 16:10? Most monitor are 16:9... This isn't pre 2010. 16:10 is a dead aspect ratio only really still found in photographers, video editors, digital artists, and businesses... Like super old stuff.
@AverageGamer You mean.... Places where people actually... Use computers?
Yeah, I know gaming monitors do mostly come 16:9, it's what I use for my consoles as a matter of fact, but it's 16:10 or bust 6 for any actual PC used for more than gaming because 16:9 is horrible for productivity work. It's why iPad isn't 16:9. I've tried productivity on 16:9 and it was so horrifyingly bad. It was designed for media consumption, not work.
Noooooo….I’m having flashbacks to the N64’s PAL releases!
Wow this is dumb. But … it’s “artistic” lol
Don’t get your hopes up for this game either way.
WTF I bought a big TV and theh won't even allow me to use it all? Do they intend people to go play this game in the cinema? Why???
@BacklogBrad This isn't creative. It allows them to cut the resolution down some for performance. They are just spinning it off as a 'creative choice'.
How pretentious. Or is it a modern variation of how Doom was put in a tiny box on early console ports?
@Banjo- and to top it off at 8 hours long I don’t even need a full month subscription, I could complete it in an afternoon! If only they sold day passes to GP
Only rendering half the screen and still cant get above 30fps?
The more I hear about this short interactive movie, the more I wander what they have been doing with MS money all these years.
I hope the film is worth watching at least.
.... and I'm aware that many people are looking forward to this, I hope they get a great experience, I trully do.
I don't get the hate about that, really.
The game is clearly designed to look like a movie, so even if it is a technique to save up some resources, I'm all fine with it.
30 fps, black bars on top and bottom. Short length. It's a cinema scope adventure. And I'm all-in for that.
And yes, it really reminds me of The Order 1886. A game (interactive movie ?) that I loved very much.
I just can't wait to play this gem !
Cinematic, or just an excuse to make the game render in a lower resolution?
@abe_hikura I... actually want this to happen now. The backlash would be utterly brilliant
@Bobobiwan Man, theThe Order 1886 was really brilliant. It could have been such an amazing 1st party tentpole series. Such a shame
@GeeEssEff Maybe it's an awesome game. Some short games are and while I was disappointed with most Sony's exclusives, for some reason I loved all the The Walking Dead games, that are purely interactive films. As long as the film is interesting and the gameplay is not annoying, I will like Hellblade II.
Yes, Game Pass is the best deal in the whole industry. I appreciate that it lets me try games that I loved (Persona 3 Reload the last one) and not waste money and time on games that I didn't like (Ravenlok the last one).
I agree with the comment above that says that because it's not a massive game, the black bars won't be as annoying. The comment that says that the black bars take half of the screen, well, it's from a cynical one that preemptively hates anything Xbox.
Removed - flaming/arguing
I've been waiting to play this ever since it was announced, not long to wait now 🙂
In the meantime it's always a hoot to read the overacting posts on another Xbox exclusive....short game that, movie this, aspect ratio the other, (blah, blah, etc, etc.) 😅
Removed - flaming/arguing
Removed - flaming/arguing
I’m still excited for the game but this seems like a baffling creative decision. But I will probably wait to play it, I’d wager a 60fps or 40fps VRR mode will be released post launch
Removed - trolling/baiting
Tried playing the first one but god damn, what a boring tedious slog to play.
Got to the first boss then just deleted it
This one seems to get worse with everything I read lol - 30fps "cinematic" experience (but only on Xbox, it's not gonna be "cinematic" on PCs!) and now this black bars stuff ...
WTF moment of the week goes to Ninja Theory and Hellblade 2. I've enjoyed every Ninja Theory game so far and am excited to put on some headphones for Senua's next journey—I'm definitely a fan. Moving on, Ninja Theory tweeted, "Our game camera is anamorphic with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, which means there will be letter-boxing on the average display." So, it appears I need to buy the game, supply the internet connection, wait for patches to fix issues, and even get a new monitor for the proper display experience.
Sounds like The Evil Within all over again.
Fortunately, that one ended up with options to disable the letterboxing and, more importantly, the 30fps cap!
So only benefits a small audience and black bars like Order 1886 for most people? Because who wants a movie experience people want GAMES. Just make it fit the common audience range or just not offer them at all. People want it to fit their screens.
Do they forget that not everyone has what staff have in their offices/their own TVs. Seriously. Will they only notice once in their own homes when it launches. XD
I don't think it's not purchase worthy but even then I wasn't interested anyway. The story will be good but the gameplay/camera put me off the first one, God of War 2018 and Ryse Son of Rome. Godhand I think balanced it a bit better and had better combat customisation in 2006 then these cinematic behind the head approaches.
@NEStalgia And that only cause most businesses are too cheap to upgrade, or the professional grade display they bought like pre 2010s is still fine for modern work loads.
Most high-end modern Pro Display, studio displays, and Apple’s XDR display is 16:9. Even something like the EIZO ColorEdge is 16:9 display
Is it true 2.39:1 or a cropped 16x9? Of the 4 screen shots here 2 have the tops of the heads cutoff. The Evil Within looked cropped when comparing pre and post patch images.
Overall composition needs to fit the ratio. 2.39:1 can look horrible on close shots with poor composition. I call it the venetian blind technique, as it looks like I am viewing through a raised blind slat with the top and bottom sliced off.
On my old 16x9 TV I can easily use cinema zoom to slice off some of each side of a 2.39:1 image to fit my screen. However that works better with older movies and not the newer movies. The older ultra wide movies usually look good in both wide and ultra wide. New movies usually do not, and that's because of composition. New movies look like a 16x9 image cropped to 2:39:1 or wider to give an ultra wide look. That's why I ditched Netflix and watch TCM, better movies with better cinematography.
Finian's Rainbow, a 1968 musical is a good example of proper composition when using a panoramic wide image in movies. Both 2.39:1 and 16x9 look good even with some of the sides cropped in 16x9 ratio.
For HB2 I see a 16x9 patch soon after release.
@AverageGamer because those displays are meant for working with VIDEO. For working with photos, text and data, 16:9 is a living nightmare brought about by the costs of consumer devices focusing on media consumption making those panels more common. Again that's why Apple doesn't make iPad 16:9 like most Android tablets. They know this.
@NoCode23 @NEStalgia I wonder if the real reason is to render fewer pixels to boost performance on 16:9 TVs. Some players will use zoom because ultra wide is not a popular format. If it's an artistic decision, there should be a 16:9 option, even if that means lowering the resolution. I even doubt that ultra wide will become mainstream but who knows. The Evil Within changed this eventually and it became much more playable after the patches. They also added an option to remove the video filter that was an artistic choice, obviously.
@Banjo- It's possible, but that's a sort of awkward way to do it by presenting the game in a shrunken letterbox that looks terrible on most screens most people will play on than simply lowering res, unless it's already running an awkwardly low res. And of course it's not less pixels on an actual ultrawide, though it just assumes anyone with an ultrawide also has a 4080 minimum.
@NEStalgia Many developers, aside from Nintendo, Namco, and Sega, appear focused on advancing the latest and most advanced technology, despite knowing that less than 10% of the market can afford it. This approach often caters only to the most hardcore PC enthusiasts who are indifferent to the steep prices, resulting in a subpar experience for the majority. Consequently, they are perplexed when their games do not sell 20 million copies on the launch weekend. They are so engrossed in their "art studios," playing with the cutting-edge technology just because it exists, that they fail to recognize their actual market. Consequently, I am decidedly against purchasing any Xbox or Playstation hardware in the future, with the possible exception of a controller. Why waste the money ?
@old-dad Yes, exactly that, 100%.
It's not a new plague in games development, PC developers have been like that since forever. Arguably western developers in general are more about sating technophilia than making successful products. But it's gone from bad to worse in the past decade or so once the consoles were able to keep up, sort of, with PCs. IDK how that mindset got started, or how to eliminate it in the industry, short of everyone going bankrupt because of it, which is exactly what's happening.
Back in the day, it was Blizzard that was the notable standout. Starcraft, Warcraft III, Diablo II, WoW, were all way, way, way, behind the graphics curve of PC games of their day. They pretty much ran on a potato at launch. And as a result the launches were huge and they were among the most popular all-time PC games. Blizzard was the one doing the "Nintendo" strategy on PC, in a time when they were the only one doing it, and they won big for it.
Then they were bought by Activision and everyone important left, and the wheels fell off the bus. (Though they recently got Metzen back just to work on WoW. )
@NEStalgia Indeed, the introduction of X86 architecture to the latest generation of consoles marked a significant shift away from traditional console gaming. This move was intended to simplify game development, but it's unclear what became of that promise. Perhaps it was overshadowed by the industry's focus on releasing remakes and remasters of older games, or maybe it was lost amidst other pressing demands.
@old-dad I think the industry expected they could easily just develop for PC and port everything to console, underestimating that the rest of the tge console still wasn't a PC and still took a lot of extra work. Then the artistes decided to keep hammering pc hardware to the extreme...
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