Extremely OK Games has announced the cancellation of Earthblade.
In a blog post, EXOK R&D Director Maddy Thorson explained that a “fracture” formed within the team in early 2024 over Celeste’s intellectual property rights.
As a result, art director Pedro Medeiros left the developer in November, encouraging Thorson and EXOK computer programmer Noel Berry to consider the future of Earthblade.
“Losing Pedro wasn’t the only factor in the game‘s cancellation, but it prompted us to seriously consider whether fighting to finish Earthblade was the right path to take,” Thorson wrote. “The project had a lot to offer but, unfortunately, it was also not as advanced as one would expect after such a lengthy development process.”
Thorson cited the daily development of Earthblade and the pressure of Celeste’s success as major problems, leading to working on the project becoming “exhausting” for the team.
“The break with [Medeiros] “It has given us the clarity to see that we have lost our way and the opportunity to admit defeat,” he added. “I feel it in many ways, but a great feeling is definitely relief.”
Thorson also clarified that Earthblade’s cancellation was solely her and Berry’s decision.
“Because this is the Internet, I want to make it clear that the decision and responsibility to cancel Earthblade lies entirely with Noel and me,” he said.
“If you were excited about Earthblade and angry about its cancellation, Pedro and the Neverway team are not the enemy and anyone who treats them as such is not welcome in any EXOK gaming community.”
Other members of the EXOK team left last year, leaving Thorson and Berry as the developer’s only employees.
As a result, Thorson said they are taking advantage of the lessons they have learned to “wipe the slate clean and refocus on smaller-scale projects.”
“We’re prototyping again and exploring at our own pace, and trying to rediscover game development in a way closer to how we approached it in the early days of Celeste or TowerFall,” Thorson concluded.