Earthblade, a Game by Celeste Devs, Cancelled Due to "Disagreements"

Earthblade, the eagerly anticipated title from the creators of the indie sensation Celeste, has been officially cancelled due to internal conflicts within the development team. Delve into the details of what led to this unfortunate decision.

Earthblade Is Officially Cancelled

Developers Cite Internal "Fracture"

Earthblade, the next big project from the studio behind the beloved indie game Celeste, has now been officially cancelled due to internal disagreements among team members.

Extremely OK Games (EXOK), the developer, announced this heartbreaking news on their official website in a post titled "Final Earthblade Update." In the announcement, EXOK Director Maddy Thorson provided insights into the reasons behind the cancellation and outlined the studio's future plans.

"Late last month, Noel and I made the difficult decision to cancel Earthblade. Yes, we are opening the year with a huge, heartbreaking, and yet relieving failure," Thorson stated, apologizing to fans who have been eagerly awaiting the game's release. She acknowledged that the team is still processing and grieving over the events.

Thorson explained that the primary reason for the cancellation was a "fracture [that] began forming in the team," specifically between herself, EXOK Computer Programmer Noel Berry, and former Art Director Pedro Medeiros. The crux of the conflict revolved around a "disagreement about the IP rights of Celeste," which Thorson chose not to elaborate on, describing it as "obviously a very difficult and heartbreaking process."

Although a resolution was reached, it led to Medeiros parting ways with EXOK. He is now working on a new game called Neverway under a different studio. Despite the split, Thorson emphasized that they remain on good terms, stating, "Pedro and the Neverway team aren't the enemy and anyone who treats them as such isn't welcome in any EXOK community."

"Losing Pedro wasn't the only factor in cancelling the game, but it did prompt us to take a serious look at whether fighting through to finish Earthblade was the right path forward," Thorson continued. She noted that the project had potential, but "frustratingly, it was also not as far along as one would expect after such a protracted development process." The overwhelming success of Celeste had placed immense pressure on the team to outdo their previous achievements, and Thorson admitted, "that pressure is a large part of why working on it has become so exhausting." The team had lost its direction, leading Thorson to conclude it was time to admit defeat.

EXOK’s Future Plans

With a significant portion of their workforce having moved on, Thorson and Berry are keen to learn from this experience and start anew, focusing on smaller-scale projects. They are currently in the prototyping phase, experimenting at a comfortable pace, "trying to rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celeste's or TowerFall's inception." Thorson expressed hope for future collaborations with former team members and ended on an optimistic note, "We gave it all we've got, and life goes on. We are happy to return to our roots and reclaim some joy in our creative process, and see where that takes us."

Earthblade was envisioned as an "explor-action platformer" following the story of Névoa, the enigmatic child of Fate, who returns to a ruined Earth in an attempt to piece together what remains of the desolate planet.