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

Earthblade, the highly anticipated game from the creators of the indie sensation Celeste, has been officially cancelled amidst internal conflicts within the development team. Let's delve into the details of what led to this unfortunate decision.

Earthblade Is Officially Cancelled

Developers Cite Internal "Fracture"

Earthblade, the next ambitious project from the studio behind the beloved indie game Celeste, has been officially cancelled due to internal disagreements among team members. Extremely OK Games (EXOK), the developer, announced this sad news on their official website in a post titled "Final Earthblade Update." In this 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, expressing her apologies to the fans who had been eagerly awaiting the game's release. She admitted that the team is still processing and grieving over the events that led to this decision.

Thorson explained that the primary reason for the cancellation was a "fracture [that] began forming in the team," particularly between herself, EXOK Computer Programmer Noel Berry, and former Art Director Pedro Medeiros. The core of the conflict revolved around a "disagreement about the IP rights of Celeste," though Thorson did not elaborate further, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Despite reaching a resolution, Medeiros decided to part ways with EXOK and is now working on his own game, Neverway, under a new studio. Thorson emphasized that despite the split, "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, while promising, was not as advanced as expected after such a long development period. The overwhelming success of Celeste had placed immense pressure on the team to create something even more impressive, which contributed to the exhaustion felt by the developers. Thorson concluded that the team had lost its way, and it was time to admit defeat and move on.

EXOK’s Future Plans

With a significant portion of their team having moved on, Thorson and Berry are now looking to learn from this experience and start anew. They are focusing on smaller-scale projects, currently prototyping and experimenting at their own pace. "We're trying to rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celeste's or TowerFall's inception," Thorson explained. She 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" that would follow the story of Névoa, the enigmatic child of Fate, as they return to a ruined Earth to piece together what remains of the desolate planet.