In a surprise announcement on January 22, 2025, EXOK-Extremely OK Games, the independent studio responsible for the critical darling platformer Celeste and has now canceled its highly expected project, Earthblade. For the team, it was “heart-wrenching” and at the same time “relieving” because that’s a significant pivot the studio will have to take.
The Journey of Earthblade
First announced back in April 2021, Earthblade was a “2D explore-action game” that promised a dense mix of exploration and action within a lovingly crafted pixel-art world. It was to be a follow-up of sorts to Celeste, a new adventure with the same signature aesthetic and depth of gameplay that the studio has since become known for.
Internal Challenges and Team Dynamics
The road to Earthblade was not an easy one. A huge internal conflict arose among the co-founders of EXOK, Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry, and Pedro Medeiros, founding member and art director for Earthblade. The disagreement was over the intellectual property rights of Celeste, which led to Medeiros leaving the team in November 2024. This led the remaining members to reassess whether Earthblade would be viable and in what direction.
Development Hurdles and Project Cancellation
Despite the passion of the team, the development of Earthblade did not go quite as fast as expected. Add to that the immense stress of having to outdo Celeste in every way imaginable, and the creativity grew increasingly weary. After deep consideration, Thorson and Berry decided this was best for the well-being of the team and the eventual future of Extremely OK Games.
A Return to Roots: Focusing on Smaller Projects
Following the cancellation of Earthblade, EXOK decided to downsize to smaller projects. As Thorson and Berry explained: “an urge to clean the slate” and have the fun in game development again, as it was when creating earlier titles like Celeste and TowerFall, for instance”. The hope with this shift is to ease some of the pressures that come with larger projects, creating a more sustainable creative environment.
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Community and Future Collaborations
It also went on to reassure the greater EXOK community that the cancellation was mutual and not because Medeiros left. The team encouraged their fans to continue following Medeiros and his new Neverway initiative, citing the friendly breakup as the reasoning behind this encouragement. EXOK remains very open to working with previously involved team members and other artists in the future.
Earthblade’s cancellation is one of those poignant moments for Extremely OK Games to show the complexity of reality in game development and a scenario that indie studios find themselves in when trying to balance creative ambition with practical restraint. EXOK is looking to recapture that spark by scaling down projects.
