In 2018, Maddy Thorson released Celeste to widespread critical acclaim, with the tough-as-nails platformer earning numerous awards and standing tall as one of the highest-rated indie games ever made. After such an incredible debut effort, fans have been waiting to see Thorson's next project. And while fans will have to wait a little longer to actually play the game for themselves, the Celeste creator and her studio Extremely OK Games have provided an update on its development.
Celeste creator Maddy Thorson's next game is called Earthblade, and it's a project that remains mostly shrouded in mystery at the time of this writing. Not much has been shown of Earthblade since its "vibe" trailer, but it seems as though development on the game is progressing nicely. According to Thorson's update, private playtesting has begun for Earthblade, with a new one being scheduled for the end of every month.
Maddy Thorson and Extremely OK Games are hoping that Earthblade will be content-complete by the end of this year, with the goal of actually launching the game at some point in 2023. As detailed in Thorson's update, this will be preceded by a private beta test, polishing, and localization efforts. Of course, it's always possible that unforeseen issues or other factors could push the release date back further than expected, but based on the report, it seems like the game is well on its way.
Thorson's update did include a screenshot of Earthblade, depicting a screen that does not look unlike something one would see in the award-winning Celeste, but with more of a fantasy-inspired aesthetic. The scene appears to be taking place inside a large tree, with concrete cubes hanging from vines and a strange, glowing purple substance in the top-left corner. The focal point of the image is what appears to be a door, mirror, or portal sitting in the center of the tree, with a blue flower on top of it.
As it stands, there is still very little that is known about Earthblade in an official capacity beyond what's shown in the screenshots that have been released and that it will be a "2D explor-action game in a seamless pixel art world." However, now that Celeste fans have a better idea of when they may be able to play the new game for themselves, hopefully more information on the highly-anticipated project starts coming out at a faster pace.
There should be numerous gaming events in the next year where Extremely OK Games could show off Earthblade, though two distinct possibilities that come to mind are Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards. Celeste won Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2018, and so it would make sense for host Geoff Keighley to try to secure a world premiere trailer for Earthblade. And since Keighley also runs Summer Game Fest, it wouldn't be surprising to see the game pop up at either show. However, nothing to that effect has actually been announced at the time of this writing, so Celeste fans excited for Earthblade should keep their expectations in check and wait for more official information.
Earthblade is in development.