Creators of ‘Celest’ cancel upcoming game after four years of announcement

Extremely OK Games, the studio behind popular indie platformer ‘Celest’ has canceled their upcoming game Earthblade. The game was announced back in 2021 with the first trailer released during the 2022 Game Awards. In a lengthy post, studio director Maddy Thorson gave fans a final update on Earthblade.

Thorson cited that there was a rift between the founders, regarding IP rights of Celeste, one of their older titles. Noel Berry & Thorson decided to part ways with Pedro Medeiros after a mutual agreement, however, this wasn’t the only reason why the studio canceled Earthblade. The team reassessed if the game was worth finishing, after all, the game wasn’t as far along, and working on the game was becoming more exhausting.

“Celestes’s success applied pressure on us to deliver something bigger and better with Earthblade, and that pressure is a large part of why working on it has become so exhausting. Pedro isn’t to blame for this, in fact, the split with him has given us the clarity to see that we have lost our way, and the opportunity to admit defeat. I feel many ways about it, but one big feeling is undoubtedly relief,” Thorson wrote.

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Extremely OK Games going back to their roots

Earthblade was set to launch last year but was delayed before the cancellation news. The trailer for the game showcased some incredible environment building which sadly will not see the light of the day. However, this isn’t the end as the studio still plans on making video games, but on a smaller scale and scope.

After rethinking their choices, both Thorson and Berry decided to cancel the game. Pedro is currently working on a separate game Neverway, as for the duo, they are also hitting a reset button and going back to work on smaller-scale projects.

“We're prototyping again and exploring at our own pace, and trying to rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celeste's or TowerFall's inception. We still, of course, hope to collaborate with Amora, Kyle, Chevy, Lena, and Power-Up Audio again in the future,” Thorson said.