Celeste developer Extremely Ok Games (EXOK) has made the decision to cancel its upcoming title, Earthblade, midway through development. EXOK made the announcement in a blog post on the studio's official website, which details exactly why the decision has been made to cancel the game entirely, rather than delay it, and what it means for the future of the developer.
In the update, it's explained that the reason for the cancelation is primarily down to disagreements between developers over the IP rights of the studio's previous game, Celeste, which caused what EXOK calls "a fracture" within the studio. While these disagreements are understandably being kept private, they apparently led to former Earthblade art director and EXOK co-founder Pedro Medeiros leaving the studio, which he announced back in November last year.
EXOK explains that the decision to cancel Earthblade was made shortly after Medeiros decided to leave the studio, as they claim his departure gave them "the clarity to see that we have lost our way". They began to reflect on whether seeing Earthblade through to the end was worth the pain, but that development had eventually become too "exhausting" due to the pressure that was mounting on the title....
