Earthblade enters playtest phase, targeting 2023 release

Published , by Donovan Erskine

With Celeste being a breakout hit of the 2018 release window, there’s been a good deal of anticipation surrounding Earthblade, the next video game from developer Extremely OK Games. Nearly a year after the game was announced, Extremely OK Games has revealed that it's moved into the playtest phase of development and that it is currently looking at a 2023 release window for Earthblade.

Extremely OK Games shared a lengthy Earthblade update to its website last week where it discussed the state of the game’s development. It’s here that we learn that playtests will soon be going underway, with them scheduled to take place at the end of every month going forward. Extremely OK Games hopes to use the feedback from these playtests in order to improve the game.

Our hope is that we can make most or all of the game's content this year, and then release in 2023 after some form of (private) beta test, polishing, localization, and of course the dreaded console certification. For now, though, we came into this month with some big changes to the game's foundation and we're gearing up for the sprint to the next playtest.

It’s here that we also learn the game is targeting a 2023 release. Although it’s a fairly vague and non-committal announcement, it’s the first indication of a release date for the Celeste follow-up. The blog post also features a new screenshot, showing off a forested area in the game.

Taking a similar pixel-art style as Celeste, Earthblade is a 2D action-adventure game that was first revealed in April 2021. We still don’t know many concrete details about the story or gameplay, but that will likely come as we inch closer to launch. For future Earthblade updates, you’ll want to keep an eye on the news section of Extremely OK Games’ website.