Earthblade Axed by Celeste Devs After Disagreements

Earthblade, the highly anticipated title from the creators of the indie sensation Celeste, has been officially canceled due to internal team conflicts. Here's a detailed look at exactly what transpired.

Earthblade Officially Canceled

Developers Point to Internal "Fracture"

Earthblade, which was expected to be the next major release from the studio behind the indie favorite Celeste, has been officially canceled due to internal conflicts within the development team.

Developer Extremely OK Games (EXOK) shared the disappointing news on their official website in a post titled "Final Earthblade Update." In the announcement, EXOK Director Maddy Thorson explained the reasons behind the cancellation and outlined the team's future plans.

"Late last month, Noel and I made the difficult decision to cancel Earthblade. We are indeed starting the year with a major, heartbreaking, yet ultimately relieving failure," Thorson began, apologizing to fans who had been eagerly waiting for the game's release and mentioning that the team is still processing and grieving the situation.

She went on to explain that a key reason for the cancellation was a growing "fracture within the team," particularly between herself, EXOK Programmer Noel Berry, and former Art Director Pedro Medeiros. Central to the disagreement was a conflict over the "IP rights for Celeste." Thorson did not provide further details, describing it as "obviously a very difficult and painful process."

The three eventually reached a resolution, but this resulted in Medeiros leaving the studio. He is now working on his own game, Neverway, under a new development team. Despite the split, the relationship appears to remain amicable, and Thorson emphasized that "Pedro and the Neverway team aren't the enemy, and anyone who treats them as such is not welcome in any EXOK community."

"Losing Pedro wasn't the only factor that led to the cancellation, but it did prompt us to seriously reconsider whether pushing forward with Earthblade was the right move," Thorson continued. "The project showed great potential, but frustratingly, it wasn't as far along as one might expect after such a lengthy development period." She also noted that the immense success of Celeste placed pressure on the team to deliver something even greater, "and that pressure is a large part of why development became so exhausting." The team felt lost, and Thorson believes it was time to acknowledge defeat and move on.

EXOK’s Plans Moving Forward

With a significant portion of the team having moved on, Thorson and Berry aim to learn from this experience and start fresh by focusing on smaller-scale projects. They are currently prototyping and experimenting at their own pace, "trying to rediscover game development in a way that reflects our original approach with Celeste and TowerFall." Thorson also expressed hope that EXOK may collaborate again with former teammates in the future, concluding on an optimistic note: "We gave it everything we had, and now it's time to move forward. We're excited to return to our roots, find joy again in our creative process, and see where it leads us."

Earthblade was described as an "explor-action platformer" following the story of Névoa, a mysterious child of Fate, as they return to a devastated Earth to uncover the remnants of a desolate world.