Celeste will be getting an entirely free update on Monday and while it may be good news, it’s also bittersweet. Celeste may have been one of 2018’s most beloved indie games but it appears game developer Matt Thorson is hanging up the climbing boots and moving on after the Chapter 9 release.
In a statement to IGN over the weekend, Thorson said,
We really don’t want to make a sequel to [Celeste],” Thorson said over email ahead of Chapter 9’s launch. “Maybe in the future we’ll change our minds, but right now we don’t know how we’d do a sequel justice. And besides, we’re way more interested in making something new for our next full release.”
So, while we may not be getting a followup to the story, being able to wrap up Madeline’s journey and interact with Theo again is exciting. With Celeste reaching nearly one million copies sold, Thorson and the rest of his new company, Extremely OK Games, say they are in a great place to look towards the future.
“The success of Celeste has allowed us to set up a lot of things that will make our work better, faster, easier, and more fun.”
Chapter 9 will release on all platforms and contains a plethora of new levels and breathtaking music., but Thorson thought the original release would be it for the game.
“When we released Celeste, we honestly felt like we had tapped the well dry,” Thorson said. “Of course that’s never actually true, but we worked so hard for so long that we reached our limit. After some rest and time away, the ideas began to flow again.”
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“Saying goodbye is never easy. Finding the right way to send off the characters and world of Celeste was especially difficult for us, but we’re very excited about what this chapter became.”
For anyone who wants to listen to a few songs from the soundtrack to get you in the mood before the official release, Lena Raine posted two for your listening pleasure.
