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On Monday June 11, 2018 Microsoft shocked the world by announcing that it would be more committed to first party titles than ever before with the purchase of five-then independent gaming studios underneath their Microsoft Studios gaming branch. One of these studios just so happened to be fan-favorite action developer Ninja Theory. The news was something that was completely unprecedented as Ninja Theory was it’s own bit of success as an indie dev with the release of 2017’s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, even more so than the other four studios Microsoft announced they had purchased at E3. Microsoft owning Ninja Theory, not only brings hope to the Xbox’s very short list of exclusives, but it also provides Ninja Theory with a cemented future for years to come.

Originally launched in 2000 as Just Add Monsters, Ninja Theory was a small team of developers founded in Cambridge, UK the cost of the launch was only £3000. According to unveiled info, the team was so small that at the time there was only three members and no equipment or software for game development. However Just Add Monsters was suffering after only a short time and was looking for investors to fund the company. No one was interested in funding, however when the offer to purchase them came up Argonaut Games picked them up in 2000.  With Argonaut’s support they moved into a proper office and hired 17 more employees for work. Their first title “Kung Fu Chaos” which launched on the original Xbox in 2003 received mixed to positive reception and under performed in sales due to poor marketing, but it was the first title to get eyes on their work.

Just Add Monsters’ King Fu Chaos.

After audience reception of the original game a would be sequel to Kung Fu Chaos was cancelled as Microsoft pulled the resources for development. Having begun work on a post-Microsoft successor to Kung Fu Chaos, Just Add Monsters decided to tweak and expand upon the “kung fu” story which would eventually become 2004’s Heavenly Sword. Before work on Heavenly Sword could be completed, Argonaut Games was going through financial troubles and funding for the title was in a difficult state, however Argonaut CEO Jez San provided investment to remove Just Add Monsters from Argonaut turning the studio independent once more. Under their second run as a third party developer, Just Add Monsters would re-brand themselves as the now “Ninja Theory” and released Heavenly Sword to both critical and commercial success as a Playstation 3 exclusive after signing a deal with Sony, selling about 1.5 million copies.

Ninja Theory’s initial title Heavenly Sword.

Following Heavenly Sword, Ninja Theory released Enslaved: Odyssey to the West after Chief Designer Tameem Antoniades read Journey to the West, which inspired the title and other works. It was another success for Ninja Theory, and would spark their first major IP development with Capcom’s Devil May Cry franchise in a prequel reboot titled DmC: Devil May Cry. While DmC was met with mixed reception from franchise fans, it was non the less a commercial and critical success, in fact it became the most critically successful game in the series since Devil May Cry & Devil May Cry 3. Due to it being another publisher’s in-house work, Ninja Theory secured royalties from each title which helped keep them afloat and eventually the developer decided to go 100% independent in 2013.

Ninja Theory & Capcom’s DmC.

After several unsuccessful pitches and some experience in the mobile and “games as service” model & doing side work for Disney Interactive’s Disney Infinity, Ninja Theory began work on it’s first in-house project. This project would be 100% owned, developed, and published by Ninja Theory themselves and called Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.  It would go on to become Ninja Theory’s most successful title in history being a commercial and universally acclaimed marvel for a team of Ninja Theory’s size having successful launches on PC, Playstation 4, and later on Xbox One, so much so that Ninja Theory donated to mental illness charities as a thanks for its support. The game would also be nominated for and awarded several industry awards including the BAFTA Award for Best Performance (Melina Juergens) among others. It would become the (currently) most successful independent AAA within the industry.

Ninja Theory’s magnum opus; Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

Hellblade’s quick rise to success would inspire multiple developers and publishers to follow the independent AAA business model that was inspired by and had it’s foundation created by Ninja Theory, including Platinum Games & and even Grand Theft Auto’s Take-Two Interactive following suit. With titles still in the very early stages of development under their own brand, Ninja Theory would go on to be purchased by Microsoft Studios for first party game development for the Xbox One and it’s successor console.

Ninja Theory & Microsoft Studios: A New Hope.

While Ninja Theory’s run as an 100% independent developer was short-lived, it was an important one for several reasons. Not only did it prove that smaller scale games could be financial hits, but it also showed just how much creative freedom for stories such as Hellblade needed to be embraced. For too long have studios fallen to their publishers due to creative interference and flat out big footing ruining the direction and quality of projects, thus unjustifiably putting said studios at the mercy of the axe of their owners. With Microsoft’s ownership of Ninja Theory, Ninja Theory will be able to produce and develop the titles they want free from any interference, and Microsoft will receive high quality, critically acclaimed, first party games of class to finally rival those of long-time opponent in the game industry, Sony. Check out Ninja Theory’s own reasons for joining Microsoft below: