Earthblade, the Next Game From Celeste’s Makers, has Been Delayed.

Extremely OK Games, the developer of Celeste and Towerfall, announced that its Earthblade game has been postponed. Earthblade, a fantasy platformer that was originally scheduled for release this year, has been delayed to a future date.

Earthblade’s first trailer was shown at The Game Awards 2022. Nevoa is the star of this fantasy “exploraction” platformer. She’s a child-of-fate who returns in order to unravel the mysteries of Earth. Studio states that the game is inspired by Metroidvania, as it has “seamless exploring, challenging combat and countless mystery to unravel.” Earthblade is not available on any other platforms than PC.

Maddy Thorson, the head of Extremely OK Games, begins her post by stating,

This update has been long overdue. Your patience is appreciated as we do our best to create this game, which seems to be adamant about not being made. We’ll go into more detail about the development process below, but we have to admit that this game won’t be released in 2024. It was our hope to announce a release date soon, but unfortunately that is not in the cards. This will disappoint many of you, and we apologize for it. It’s always disappointing when haters get it right.

Thorson announces more good news with the addition to his small team of Kyle Pulver, a veteran independent developer who is also a friend. Thorson says that despite the studio’s hesitation to hire new talent, due to the concerns Thorson cites, such as “increasing the communication overhead and creating greater financial pressure as the burn rate increases,” Thorson believes Pulver’s fresh ideas and vision helped the Earthblade team to reexamine Earthblade and its problems and find solutions.

Thorson admits also that Pulver was hired after Earthblade realized they were a “bottleneck”.

I’ve had to balance my work and my family life while also undergoing a gender change. It’s not hard to understand how the transition has affected Earthblade.

Thorson and his team have been battling with uncertainty over the Earthblade project after setbacks. But the studio believes that Earthblade will succeed. Thorson says they are recovering from surgery related to transition and being on the other end of that has given them clarity and comfort for what comes next. Thorson says, “It’s like the beginning of a brand new era.”