This December, the gaming industry will be gearing up for the return of The Game Awards, held by gaming industry personality and figurehead Geoff Knightley. While the awards show was held last year, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced the event to be mostly hosted in a virtual format, with a handful of people being present in the studio. This year the show will be able to return to an in-person format, along with a combination of it being livestreamed. The Game Awards is where a lot of news from game developers is expected to appear, with one of the rumored reveals that Xbox fans can expect being for Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.
Hellblade 2 is the sequel to Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, set in a dark fantasy world that is inspired by Norse mythology and Celtic culture. It follows Senua, a warrior who travels and fights otherworldly beings to save her lover from the clutches of the goddess Hela. The sequel will be set in Iceland, with a bigger development team than the previous game to boot. Hellblade 2 was announced at a previous Game Awards show in 2019, so the next rumored appearance of the game being at this year's upcoming Game Awards show is rather fitting.
The game's possible appearance was detailed by GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb on an episode of the Defining Duke podcast. The discussion arose based on what games would appear at the upcoming awards show, with Xbox in particular being one company that is gearing up for some big announcements to be shown. Grubb agreed to this, outlining that after Hellblade 2's long silence, the game has a strong chance of appearing.
Grubb backs this up by claiming that there was already a lot being announced at the Xbox event during E3. Considering Microsoft's already stacked lineup during that show, this would explain Hellblade 2's absence from E3 2021. He further says that with that roster, Hellblade 2 would be saved for an event later in the year, which is assumed to be this year's Game Awards show.
Grubb ends his piece on Hellblade 2 saying that it's not entirely confirmed, as these plans could have changed, so fans will have to wait and see. Considering Microsoft has dropped huge Xbox game announcements during The Game Awards in recent years, there is a strong possibility that Hellblade 2 could make another surprise appearance.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Defining Duke