Hellblade 2’s Australian R rating suggests it could be more violent than its predecessor

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, the sequel to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, has received an R 18+ rating from the Australian Classification Board, the country’s top media regulatory body. The ACB’s rating implies “high-impact violence,” suggesting a more brutal rendition of the Nordic hellscape than the previous game had.

While we don’t know exactly what parts of the game caused the ACB to rate it with their second-highest label, it’s bound to be drastically more graphic than its predecessor. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, which came out in 2017, received an MA 15+ age rating from the Australian Classification Board. Initially, Hellblade 2 was also rated MA 15+ in June 2023, but that has since changed.

Hellblade 2 was announced at The Game Awards in 2019 and is slated to release in 2024, according to developer Ninja Theory. The studio operates under Xbox, and the company confirmed Hellblade 2 will appear during this year’s Game Awards on Dec. 7. The timing of the ACB’s rating likely has to do with The Game Awards show, where it appears we’ll be getting a new trailer and possible release date announcement. It could also mean that Hellblade 2 will arrive sooner than later, possibly in the loaded first quarter of 2024.

Hellblade 2 has been advertised as an ambitious project, heavily emphasizing motion capture technologies and pushing the Unreal Engine to its absolute limits. From what we’ve already seen, it will be strikingly true to life in its animation and graphics department. And now, with the R 18+ rating, we may see excruciating violence rendered with state-of-the-art tech, elevating the game’s cinematic and hellish feel.

The original game has garnered a cult following and was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews. It deals with the titular character, Senua, who suffers from severe psychological disorders and descends into the Nordic underworld, seeking her lost fiance. The sequel sees Senua traveling through Nordic Iceland and “overcoming the darkness within and without,” says the game’s official description.