Ninja Theory announce Project Mara, an experimental "mental terror" game

Hellblade developer Ninja Theory has announced an experimental horror game, Project: Mara.

Revealed through a new video series called The Dreadnaught Diaries, Project: Mara aims to be an experimental take on mental terror.

“Project Mara will be a real-world and grounded representation of true mental terror,” says Ninja Theory co-founder Tameen Antoniades. “It’ll be based heavily on research, interviews and first-hand accounts to recreate the horrors of the mind as believably as possible.

At the heart of it, it’s the character that drives it. The game only features one character in one location. It’s an experimental project and a showcase of what could become a new storytelling medium.”

Despite the company’s acquisition by Microsoft, Ninja Theory will still be delivering titles through smaller dev teams.

“With a 20-person team, Hellblade proved that smaller, focused teams can deliver impactful games whilst delivering breakthrough technology,” said commercial director Dom Matthews.

“Being part of Xbox Game Studios puts us in a privileged position. We have 120 people, we’ve wrapped up all of our work-for-hire projects and we’re about to launch Bleeding Edge. Now, we get to design and direct our own projects.”