Motion Twin ended development on Dead Cells to focus on their new title Windblown, a decision that left many fans unhappy.
Dead Cells remains one of the most successful indie games of recent years — its sales have topped ten million copies. In 2024, Motion Twin announced that development was finished and updates would cease, a move that provoked strong criticism from the community.
Many perceived this as a cynical manoeuvre, convinced the game had been ‘shut down’ to promote the new Windblown project — especially since support for Dead Cells in recent years was handled not by Motion Twin itself but by Evil Empire, a studio formed by several former team members.
However, artist and level designer Gwen Masse believes the decision was beneficial for both the studio and the players — developers were able to move on, and players received a completed game that no longer required constant updates.
“We felt the era of Dead Cells had come to an end. For us and for players, it was important to have the game we set out to make from the start. Right now we are fully focused on Windblown.”
Yannick Bertier, Windblown’s creative director who joined after Dead Cells launched, shares that view. He says Dead Cells’ success gave the studio room to grow: shoring up finances, expanding the team, and taking on more ambitious undertakings.
“Dead Cells allowed Motion Twin to move far beyond what the studio had done before. We can now pursue projects that are ambitious even on a technical level.”
Windblown, the studio’s new title, is already available in Early Access on Steam. It’s a larger, more technologically advanced project with cooperative gameplay. To date it has earned 89% positive reviews from more than eight thousand users. Still, only time will tell whether it can replicate Dead Cells’ success and step out of its shadow.
Source: iXBT.games