Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice gets Xbox Series X|S optimization with ray tracing and more
Senua's journey into hell, now with ray traced visuals.

What you need to know
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice first came to Xbox One in 2018, shortly before Microsoft acquired Ninja Theory.
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is now optimized for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, with ray tracing and other improvements.
- Ninja Theory is also working on a sequel called Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.
Ninja Theory is currently hard at work on Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 but if you've missed the studio's prior critically acclaimed title, this is your chance. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is now optimized for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Per the official announcement, this optimization brings DirectX ray-tracing alongside "enriched visuals," a resolution mode and more.
You can take a look at the announcement trailer for this free upgrade below.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was first launched in 2017 on PC and PS4. In 2018, the game came to Xbox One and shortly after, Ninja Theory was one of many studios acquired by Microsoft for Xbox Game Studios. Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is coming to Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC at some point in the future and is being developed using Unreal Engine 5, though there's no release window at this time.
Shortly after the initial announcement, Ninja Theory confirmed that this update also added chapter select functionality, making finding any collectibles you missed easier. The game also now has a mode supporting up to 120 FPS on Xbox Series X. Ninja Theory also confirmed that an update is in development for PC players.
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Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert.
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I'll be playing Senua's Sacrifice again just before Senua's Saga is released. That could be a way off yet but I have plenty of other games to keep me occupied in the meantime. This was the game that got me interested in close combat though, as I played mainly shooters prior. The combat may have been simple compared to other games available but I enjoyed it and it was a good introduction for me.
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Unpopular opinion, the puzzles are repetitive and ruin the flow of the game.
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I would agree only when I was doing my collectables run. The first time I played they felt just right.