It's not technically a delay, but it is disappointing.
Earthblade, the next game from Celeste and Towerfall studio Extremely OK Games, is technically not delayed, because it didn't have a release date in the first place. We did expect it to be out this year, though, and the developers expected to at least have a firm launch date in place by now—but instead, Extremely OK director Maddy Thorson said in a new blog post that "this game ain't coming out in 2024."
Development of Earthblade is progressing, and the studio is "still excited to work on it," but settling on a release date at this point "just isn't in the cards," Thorson wrote.
"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."
This isn't the first time Earthblade has been semi-sort-of delayed. In 2022, Thorson expressed hope for a release in 2023 "after some form of (private) beta test, polishing, localization, and of course the dreaded console certification," but that didn't work out either.
To help keep things moving forward, the studio has also hired a new designer, Kyle Pulver, a "veteran indie developer" who's also apparently the Towerfall world champion and a hidden character in the game.
"Kyle quickly approached us with big ideas, which can be scary for everyone involved," Thorson wrote. "But it was clear that he's not here to derail the project. He's identifying our vision and the problems preventing the game from living up to it, and working with us to pinpoint solutions. Plus his fresh eyes have inspired all of us to see things anew."
Announced in 2021, Earthblade is an exploration-action set in a "seamless pixel art world" that follows the adventures of an "enigmatic child of Fate" who returns from some unspecified absence to explore the ruins of Earth and piece together its fractured history. It's available for wishlisting on Steam and you can take a look at the reveal trailer from the 2022 Game Awards below:
