Celeste and Towerfall developer Extremely OK Games has announced its next game, Earthblade, has been delayed. The fantasy platformer was scheduled to launch sometime this year but has now been pushed to an undetermined window.
Earthblade was first announced in April 2021 before getting its first trailer at The Game Awards in 2022. The fantasy "explor-action" platformer stars Névoa, a child of fate who returns to uncover the mysteries of a fractured Earth. The game appears to be inspired by the Metroidvania subgenre, with the studio stating it features "seamless exploration, challenging combat, and countless mysteries to pick apart." Outside of PC, Earthblade has no announced platforms.
In a candid blog post, Extremely OK Games’ head Maddy Thorson opens by writing,
“I know, I know, this update is long overdue. We appreciate your patience as we try our best to make this video game that appears to be stubbornly determined to not get made. More on the process in the following paragraphs, but first we need to face the music: this game ain't coming out in 2024. We had hoped to be announcing a firm release date around now, but it just isn't in the cards. We know that this will be disappointing for a lot of you and we're sorry for that. Maybe this was predictable, but still it always sucks when the haters are right.”
Thorson continues by announcing more positive news in the addition of veteran indie developer and friend Kyle Pulver to the small team. Despite the studio’s reservations about recruiting new talent due to due to concerns Thorson describes such as “increasing communication overhead, and creating more financial pressure as our burn rate balloons,” Thorson is confident Pulver’s ideas and fresh vision have helped the team reexamine Earthblade, its problems, and identify solutions.
Thorson also admits that Pulver’s hiring came after realizing they had become a “bottleneck” to Earthblade’s development process.
“I've struggled to keep up with my workload and provide a strong direction for the team, while navigating all of the challenges of my personal life, including my gender transition. Transition involves a lot of change, uncertainty and doubt, and it's easy to see how that has bled into Earthblade.”
Thorson describes themselves and the team battling uncertainty around the project following setbacks, but that studio still believes in Earthblade. Thorson states they were currently recovering from transition-related surgery and that being on the other side of it has helped them regain clarity and ease for what's next. "It feels like the start of a new era," Thorson writes.
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