One of the games that helped strengthen the indie scene in recent years is Celeste. Following this success, its studio has been working on a new project, but the bad news is that it will arrive much later than expected.
When the 2D exploration and action game Earthblade was revealed in late 2022, it was anticipated to be ready in 2024. The team expected to announce the release date around this time, but there was a change of plans, and instead, they revealed that the title "will not release in 2024".
Why was Earthblade delayed?
In an extensive statement, the project lead, Maddy Thorson, elaborated on the reasons that caused Earthblade to not be ready as planned.
According to the creative, her intention is for Extremely OK Games to remain a studio of just a few people, but she found the need to add one more member: designer Kyle Pulver.
Thorson mentioned facing a workload that she couldnt sustain while dealing with personal challenges and procedures related to her gender transition, which together generated uncertainty that she feels permeated Earthblade.
"I was desperate for this, and recently, I apologized to the team, but [studio artist] Pedro [Medeiro] said something that helped change my mindset. He told me that this uncertainty would always be part of the process and that it didnt solely come from me: weve all had to fight together against uncertainty to make Earthblade. Even if we could go back and do everything perfectly from the beginning, the result would be a different game. Despite the setbacks, we all still believe in this project and, more importantly, in each other," expressed the developer.
While a new release window was not announced (for which she apologized), Thorson made it clear that the development of Earthblade "is not stagnant" and that after all the vicissitudes, she is beginning to see the picture more clearly now.
In case you missed it: Extremely OK Games celebrated the 6th anniversary of Celeste with an adorable free game.
Were you hoping to play Earthblade before 2025? Tell us in the comments.
