Rumor: Heavenly Sword 2 canceled; Ninja Theory 'bitter' with Sony
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jun 17th 2008 at 6:35PM }
Meanwhile, Ninja Theory, which has offices in the same building as HS2 developer Sony Cambridge, is apparently moving out following "increasingly bitter" treatment by Sony.
Update: Sony informs it will not comment on the Heavenly Sword 2 rumor. Ninja Theory's official statement is after the break.
A representative for Ninja Theory writes:
"You'd have to ask Sony about HS2 - it's not something that we're involved in.
We are moving but it's completely amicable! We move mid July and have been planning it for the best part of a year, there's nothing nefarious about it. We are excited about the move - our new premises are considerably bigger and in an excellent location near the town centre."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Korova *Pyro aspect* @ Jun 17th 2008 6:39PM
Did Sony EU devs get bird-flu?
Scott @ Jun 17th 2008 6:41PM
Whats with Microsoft and Sony these days? Seems like nothing is really going well, CEOs leaving etc
Intentless @ Jun 17th 2008 6:42PM
So is this in relation to the push multiplayer... Cause I don't think FF 13 has multiplayer... You know... Microsoft is welcoming to any game... So if these devs having their games canceled for no multi... want to see about maybe moving the titles over to the 360.... Just ya... Know... throwing it out there....
ianp711 @ Jun 17th 2008 8:50PM
But at least FF has more than 5~6 hrs of gameplay!
HS also has no replay value.
Call me bitter, that was the biggest waste of $60+ I spent in recent memory.
Phil @ Jun 17th 2008 6:42PM
In other news, people keep on living their lives.
Come on people, is this a really big deal? Would you rather funds be put towards another hack and slash sequel or maybe have a shot at being put towards something a LITTLE more original. =|
browntown @ Jun 17th 2008 7:46PM
They could use those resources to help media molecule out with little big planet, they coudl create expansions and even get started on a new ip. I think Meida molecule could really make some great platforming games that will fit well with the psn.
Phil @ Jun 17th 2008 8:20PM
Exactly, let it go to funding on something else.
And it just means it isn't coming immediately. Until the company says "We have no desire to make anymore sequels" or something, there's no need for this news.
More suiting would be "Rumor: Heavenly Sword 2 Put On Hold" or something. =/
dabamf @ Jun 17th 2008 6:45PM
Flame bait at its finest. This sucks...I truly enjoyed Heavenly Sword and thought it had a decent story.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 17th 2008 9:29PM
I loved Heavenly Sword as well but facts are facts, it sold tragicly low. And they shoved millions upon millions into it. Economically viable is likely the largest cause.
|MaguS| @ Jun 17th 2008 6:46PM
There will be a Heavenly Sword 2, Sony isn't a company to abandon decent franchises. The Getaway franchise never took off, the games were always rated poorly and sold poorly. Heavenly Sword recieved good reception, just didn't sell as well as they hoped. Im sure they will look into improving that, I mean ICO sold poorly and we got a follow up to it (with a 3rd in the pipe).
Ninja Theory is also a 3rd Party, if they want to move offices they are free to. They have no contracted objigation to Sony, I don't see how thats news. I mean why would they stay in a Sony office if their next title is going to be Multiplatform...
Dwag @ Jun 17th 2008 7:35PM
What will be the plot in Heavenly Sword 2 aint the Protag dead.
Heavnly sword to me was decent
|MaguS| @ Jun 17th 2008 7:39PM
No clue but seeing as how they stated it was suppose to be a trilogy Im sure they have a plan for the story.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Jun 17th 2008 8:10PM
"Heavenly Sword recieved good reception, just didn't sell as well as they hoped."
And that's enough for a publisher to not want to publish a sequel. And Shadow of the Colossus doesn't really count since it's not even directly related to Ico(and you only see the connection at the end of the game)
Mike Sylvester @ Jun 17th 2008 8:11PM
@Dwag and |MaguS|
Looks like some people haven't completed Heavenly Sword.
Noshino @ Jun 18th 2008 7:28AM
Anyway, Team ICO's project, altho they have lows sales, they keep them around because they are highly acclaimed, seriously, both of their games have won more awards than many other ones out there...
Jake11 @ Jun 17th 2008 6:49PM
i only played heavenly sword at a demo stand in Best Buy, but it was awesome. too bad
ThePerfectCompanion @ Jun 17th 2008 6:53PM
LOL...thats classic sony.
el serpiente @ Jun 17th 2008 8:49PM
LOL...that's classic PrematureAss
ThePerfectCompanion @ Jun 17th 2008 10:01PM
That's my classic bitch stalker...
John McPoop (PSN:johnnynumber5) @ Jun 17th 2008 10:18PM
Keep changing that name premature Asshat ... No matter how hard you try your idiot comments always give you away ... So pathetic
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 17th 2008 6:54PM
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I just returned heavenly sword 1 to gamefly a couple days ago, stopping around chapter 3 or 4 halfway through. It was fun at first but it got old extremely fast and frankly, I got tired of it.
It does have some of the best video game acting I've ever seen and by far the best facial animation and lip synching in video games (seriously, whoever did Bohan or w/e the bad guy's name was, give him a pay raise), but the gameplay needs to be a lot more mixed up next time.
Eric @ Jun 17th 2008 7:20PM
That would be the great Andy Serkis, who also did the facial mo-cap.
Gollum ftw.
Maverick Saturn @ Jun 17th 2008 6:58PM
Hope this is true, if thats the case, its a sigh of relief, and lets await HS2
Taco_Hell @ Jun 17th 2008 7:16PM
Yeah, because "rumour" means "fact."
Taco_Hell @ Jun 17th 2008 9:45PM
Oops, looks like the guy's comment I replied to when vamoos. Now my comment just seems assholish.
Residentevil72501 @ Jun 17th 2008 7:39PM
I hope it gets cancelled the first game was fucking terrible. It wanted to be Ninja Gaiden but you couldnt jump!..... so it wasnt NG at all.
Cesaria (MKW:2621-2994-1376) @ Jun 17th 2008 7:39PM
It's okay. You can come to the Wii.
Sora267 @ Jun 17th 2008 9:30PM
To anyone reading the above post: http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/its-a-trap.jpg
Sincerely,
A (somewhat un)proud Wii owner.
Cesaria (www.cesariatic.wordpress.com) @ Jun 17th 2008 10:53PM
You're a trap!
Jhongerkong @ Jun 18th 2008 12:38AM
http://tinyurl.com/5aax4f
browntown @ Jun 17th 2008 7:44PM
Good move i guess, though i would have liked another heavenly sword game, it would have made me play the first one (really liked the demo). I hope they use the money and resources for a better game or psn games, cuz if tehy can make really awsome psn games like the pixel junk series i will buy. Also, if it has co-op i will be more likely to buy it, remember that sony (co-op should be a standard for many games now (of course a game like mgs4 where the main character does things along is not a good fit for co-op). covreing all my bases here.
kataztrophy @ Jun 17th 2008 7:48PM
Didn't hear good things about the first game so...
...Guess games with a leading woman can fail if they are bad enough.
Kodros @ Jun 17th 2008 8:05PM
It's actually a pretty good game. Hating on it has always been the cool thing to do though.
HB96st @ Jun 17th 2008 8:20PM
Isn't this like a sign of sony pulling money and putting it somewhere else?? Kinda like what they did with the war against HD DVD. -They threw all their money at blu-ray to beat HD DVD, and there was a huge shortage of games for the ps3 around the same time of just massive airtime of blu-ray (NOT GAMES) commercials for the ps3...
Hm... ps4 maybe??
John McPoop (PSN:johnnynumber5) @ Jun 17th 2008 10:23PM
Thats the worst conspiracy theory I have ever heard ... Go read up on who makes up the BDA ... Heavenly Sword was a great game and by the way this is just a rumor so don't take it as gospel ... It did not sell well and it a shame if it is true but thats the tough decisions companies have to make. They have to toe that line between a game with potential to sell vs putting that money into another franchise before it is to far into development.
4MyFriends @ Jun 18th 2008 12:05AM
It might have been a "good" game, but it was also an extremely short one with no replay value. Above all, it wasn't worth 60 dollars.
Liza @ Jun 17th 2008 8:39PM
Well this is... odd. And since most of the time these rumors are true I suppose we can kiss KS2 goodbye. Besides, I think it ended well, or at least complete. I don't know what else they could add at this point.
ianp711 @ Jun 17th 2008 8:47PM
Meh... The game was way overhyped and almost totally underperformed.
Yeah there was some cool things about the games (cinemas, production values), but the character designs were cheezy (I have a thing against Asain heroes looking like caucasians), the $60 I spent for 5~6 hours of gameplay was a ripoff, and NO replay value!
I'll pass, good riddance!
Well, at least it wasn't as bad as Lair
juju187 @ Jun 17th 2008 11:49PM
how many M$ points is ninja theory ?
Reuben @ Jun 18th 2008 12:56AM
I really couldn't stand Heavenly Sword, truth be told. Sure, it looked fantastic, but it just frustrated me to no end. With that said, if this rumor is true than it is very unfortunate for the developers who I'm sure deserve better treatment. It's rough having your game canceled after you've spent so much time on it.
Not that I would know, but I can only imagine.
Urza @ Jun 18th 2008 2:46AM
Let's see. No rumble. Sucky 6 axis missions. Failure to be more then a button masher like God of War. Oh, and the statement "This is not Goddess of War" but it was. No one barely anyone bought it.. not to mention PS3 sales sucked when this game came out.