Hellblade developer Ninja Theory announces "mental terror" title Project: Mara

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Project: Mara sounds like a subtangent of Ninja Theory's efforts with Hellblade

Hellblade developer Ninja Theory is now working on a new experimental title called Project Mara, the studio announced via the Xbox blog. It's unclear whether Project: Mara is the project's codename or final name, but based on the short teaser the studio posted to Twitter, we can safely treat it as the working title for now.  

Ninja Theory outlined its goals for Project: Mara in its blog post, and like many of Ninja Theory's other projects, it's grounded in mental health. "Project: Mara will be a real-world and grounded representation of mental terror," writes commercial director Dom Matthews. "Based on real lived experience accounts and in-depth research, our aim is to recreate the horrors of the mind as accurately and realistically as possible. Project: Mara will be an experimental title and a showcase of what could become a new storytelling medium." 

Alongside the teaser and announcement for Project: Mara, Ninja Theory released a dev diary discussing its development plans for the next few years, all under the umbrella name Dreadnought. Apart from its upcoming brawler Bleeding Edge, it has teams working on The Insight Project, a new initiative to improve mental well-being through games, and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 as independent projects. Project: Mara is also briefly mentioned, with co-founder Tameem Antoniades confirming that it only features one character, presumably Mara, and one location, the sterile facility featured in the teaser. 

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is one of several confirmed upcoming Xbox Series X games.  

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.