Extremely OK Games cancels Earthblade as team fractures over Celeste IP rights
Summary
Indie studio Extremely OK Games (EXOK) has cancelled Earthblade,
its highly anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed platformer Celeste
The cancellation follows an internal split over Celeste IP rights,
the departure of art director Pedro Medeiros,
and compounding development pressures across a prolonged production cycle
Studio now reduced to just two people — co-founders Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry
"The split has given us the clarity to see that we have lost our way, and the opportunity to admit defeat"
01
IP dispute triggers team fracture
A conflict over ownership rights to Celeste emerged within EXOK in early 2024
The dispute created a lasting internal rift that destabilized the team
Art director Pedro Medeiros departed in November 2024 as a result
Several other team members also left over the course of the past year
Thorson and Berry are now the sole remaining employees at the studio
02
Development was already under severe strain
Beyond the team split, Earthblade itself was struggling
Progress was described as significantly behind expectations
given the length of the development cycle
"The project had a lot going for it but, frustratingly, it was also not as far along as one would expect after such a protracted development process"
The shadow of Celeste's success added continuous pressure on the team
Day-to-day work on the project had become "exhausting"
03
Decision owned entirely by Thorson and Berry
The cancellation was framed as a voluntary, self-directed decision
not attributable to Medeiros or the Neverway team
"The decision and responsibility for cancelling Earthblade rests entirely on me and Noel"
Thorson publicly warned against directing blame at Pedro Medeiros or Neverway
04
What's next for EXOK
The team is pivoting toward smaller-scale projects
and returning to early-stage prototyping at their own pace
The goal is to rediscover their creative process —
closer to how Celeste and TowerFall were originally made
"We're prototyping again and exploring at our own pace, and trying to rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celeste's or TowerFall's inception"
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