Hellblade II is being developed with Unreal Engine 5

When Xbox Series X was revealed back in December of last year, it was also accompanied by Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. This is, of course, the sequel to Ninja Theory's prize-winning adventure Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, which had mental illness as its main theme. The first trailer of the game (included below) which showed stunning graphics was rendered using a seemingly powerful game engine.

Sure enough, it was, because now Microsoft and Ninja Theory have revealed more about this engine on Xbox Wire, and it turns out Ninja Theory is using the recently announced Unreal Engine 5:

"The power of Xbox Series X was first demonstrated with the unveiling of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. The team will be building the game on Unreal 5 and leveraging the power of Xbox Series X to bring the Hellblade franchise to levels never before seen. The footage shown was captured in-engine and reflects the power of Xbox Series X available to developers to deliver new universes, experiences and games in ways you have never imagined."

Epic Games unveiled its Unreal Engine 5 last month with a spectacular tech demo running on PlayStation 5, and since then more and more developers have chosen to use it. We already know Fortnite will move from Unreal Engine 4 to 5 sometime next year, and the Xbox Game Studios member InXile Entertainment is also creating its next game using this tech.

Expect to see more from Senua's Saga: Hellblade II next month, when Microsoft hosts its formal Xbox Series X reveal, where it has promised to show first-party titles.