BY – AAKARSHAN SHARMA

OVERVIEW

 FOUNDED BY TAMEEM ANTONIADES, NINA KRISTENSEN

AND MIKE BALL
MIKE BALL
 FOUNDED IN MARCH 2000

 FORMERLY KNOWN AS ‘JUST ADD MONSTERS’

 BASED IN CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND

TAMEEM ANTONIADES
 CURRENTLY AQUIRED BY XBOX GAME STUDIO

NINA KRISTENSEN
WHAT ARE THE GAMES THEY CREATED ?

 KUNG FU CHAOS
 HEAVENLY SWORD
 ENSLAVED : ODYSSEY TO THE WEST
 DmC : DEVIL MAY CRY
 HELLBLADE : SENUA’S SACRIFICE
 KUNG FU CHAOS

 ANTONIADES THOUGHT OF A HACK AND SLASH MULTIPLAYER KUNG FU GAME AND

NAMED IT ‘KUNG FU CHAOS’.
 IN SPETEMBER 2000 THE COMPANY WAS AQUIRED BY ARGONAUT GAMES.
 MICROSOFT GAMES STUDIO ALSO PROVIDED FUNDING AND ASSISTANCE IN
POLISHING THE GAME.
 THE GAME FAILED DUE TO NO ADVERTISEMENT PERFORMED BY MICROSOFT.
 AFTER THE GAME’S FAILURE, MICROSOFT DECLINED TO FUND AND RETAINED THE IP
RIGHTS OF THE GAME.
 BIRTH OF NINJA THEORY
 AFTER LOSING RIGHTS TO KUNG FU CHAOS, JUST ADD MONSTERS STARTED
WORKING ON A NEW IP CALLED KUNG FU STORY.
 THE TEAM RENAMED THE GAME AS ‘HEAVENLY SWORD’
 PUBLISHERS WERE RELUCTANT TO FUND THE GAME DUE TO ARGONAUT’S FINANCIAL
 PROBLEMS.
 ARGONAUT’S CEO PROVIDED INVESTMENT TO THE TEAM TO BUY JUST ADD
MONSTERS FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR.
 IN NOVEMBER 2004, TEAM RE – ESTABLISHED AS NINJA THEORY.
 HEAVENLY SWORDS
 WITH LIMITED CAPITAL LEFT, THE TEAM CONTINUED TO SEARCH FOR VARIOUS PUBLISHERS.
FINALLY THEY SIGNED A DEAL WITH SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT IN MAY 2005.
 SONY WOULD INTERFERE WITH THE GAMES DEVELOPMENT AND MANY FEATURES WERE
REMOVED AT THE FINAL STAGES.
 THE GAME RELEASED ON SEPTEMBER 2007 WITH MOSTLY POSITIVE REVIEWS BUT THE SALES
WERE NOT QUITE IMPRESSIVE
 TEAM DID NOT MADE A SEQUEL DUE TO INSUFFICIENT COSTING AND ALSO THEY WANTED TO
EXPLORE OTHER OPPUTUNITIES.
 ENSLAVED : ODYSSEY TO THE WEST
 WHILE RESEARCHING WUXIA GENRE, ANTONIADES READ JOURNEY TO THE WEST WHICH ISPIRED
THIS GAME.
 WILLING TO TRY SOMETHING NEW, THE TEAM REPLACED THE FANTASY ELEMENTS WITH SCI-FI
ELEMENTS.
 THE TEAM USED UNREAL ENGINE TO MAKE THIS GAME.
 BANDAI NAMCO AGREED TO PUBLISH THE GAME AFTER THE DEAL WITH GREEN SCREEN
DISSOLVED.
 THE TEAM HIRED ALEX GARLAND TO WRITE THE STORY OF THE GAME. ANDY SERKIS ALSO
RETURNED TO PERFORM THE MOTION CAPTURE.
 THE RECEIVED POSITIVE REVIEWS BUT AGAIN RESULTED IN COMMERCIAL FAILURE DUE TO
UNENTHUSIASTIC MARKET.

 DmC : DEVIL MAY CRY
 SOON AFTER COMPLETION OF ENSLAVED, CAPCOM CHOSE NINJA THEORY TO
DEVELOP THEIR NEXT DMC ENTRY.
 THE TEAM CAME UP WITH A NEW DESIGN FOR DANTE WHICH GENERATED SOME
BACKLASH.
 WHEN RELEASED IN JANUARY 2013, THE GAME RECEIVED VERY POSITIVE
REVIEWS AND THIS TIME, THE GAME WAS A COMMERCIAL SUCCESS.
 THE TITLE REACHED TOP OF THE UK, US, EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE SALES CHART.
 THE TEAM ALSO RECEIVED ROYALTIES FROM A PROJECT.
 HELLBLADE : SENUA’S SACRIFICE
 THE IDEA OF ‘INDEPENDENT AAA’ LED TO THE CREATION OF HELLBLADE WITH A TEAM OF 15 PEOPLE
WORKING ON IT.
 THEY DID NOT PROMOTE THE GAME HEAVILY WITH ADVERTISEMENT INSTEAD THEY MADE VIRTUAL
DIARIES FOR THE PLAYERS TO SEE.
 TEAM COLLABORATED WITH SEVERAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LIKE 3LATERAL, CUBIC MOTION AND
XSENS.
 IN SEPTEMBER 2016 NINJA THEORY ANNOUNCED SENUA STUDIO DIVISION WHICH WOULD WORK
ON REAL – TIME VIRTUAL CHARACTER TECHNOLOGY
 AS THE GAME DEPICTS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, THE TEAM CONSULTED WITH PROFESSIONAL
NEUROSCIENTISTS AND GAINED FINANCIAL BACKING FROM WELLCOME TRUST.
 THE RELEASED ON AUGUST 2017 AND WAS AN INTANT SUCCESS.
 ACQUISITION BY MICROSOFT

 IN JUNE 2018 MICROSOFT ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ENTERED AN AGREEMENT TO AQUIRE NINJA
THEORY.
 ACCORDING TO ANTONIADES THIS WILL ALLOW THE STUDIO TO MAKE SMALLER RISKY GAMES
WITH CREATIVE FREEDOM.
 MICROSOFT SEES NINJA THEORY AS A STUDIO THAT WOULD MAKE GOOD CONTENTS FOR XBOX
GAMES PASS.
 UPCOMING GAMES
 SENUA’S SAGA : HELLBLADE II
 PROJECT : MARA