Dead CElls:

Why Dead CElls Ending Development is good news

Dead Cells is DEAD! Well not dead at all because its a game that could almost be played infinitely, but updates will be coming to an end, which is bittersweet. Although it might feel abrupt for some, its a game that began in 2017, so after 8 years, 35 updates, 5 major DLC’s, 11 million copies sold and countless awards, using the word abrupt seems like a bit of a misnomer.

Let’s take a look at the Dead Cells situation with Motion Twin and Evil Empire. Look at where it began, where it is now and why it might be good news for everyone?

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Where it all started

Motion Twin was founded in 2001 and after making more than 150 web based games with middling success, Motion Twin finally attempted a PC game with Dead Cells, which has since gone on to sell over 11 million copies. Dead Cells released into Early Access in 2017 with a full release happening in 2018. The success of Dead Cells caught everyone by surprise, including Motion Twin, a studio that thrived on being a co-op, meaning that everyone at the studio had an equal say. In the midst of Dead Cells success, a number of people from the external marketing team and an internal programmer of Dead Cells started their own company: Evil Empire.

With Dead Cells becoming a smash hit and growing beyond the means of the co-op studio, Motion Twin was quickly faced with a three choices about what to do with the IP in 2019:

1. Stop supporting Dead Cells, as the studio had been intensely working for 4 years and wanted to work on a new project

2. Continue supporting Dead Cells, which would require Motion Twin to grow beyond 10 people, which wasn’t desired, as it wanted to keep the studio as a co-op with everyone having equal say.

3. Collaborate with Evil Empire, a studio with expertise on Dead Cells already, which would allow the game to continue to grow.

Looking at the list of options, the choice was simple: Entrust Evil Empire to keep supporting the game, which they did remarkably. Dead Cells received 18 major updates, 4 DLC’s, and a lot more under the care of Evil Empire and its safe to say that without Evil Empire, Dead Cells never would have become the success that it would eventually become.

Evil Empire quickly grew to over 70 people and helped Dead Cells become one of the greatest indie games of all time. At the time that Evil Empire took over as the caretakers for Dead Cells in 2019, Motion Twin began work on their next game that would push the limits and comfort of the studio with what we now know is Windblown.

DEAD CELLS ENDING DEVELOPMENT

On February 9, 2024, Motion Twin posted an update for the future of Dead Cells and that after update 35, there would be no future updates on the game that released in 2017.

On the Dead Cells Steam Page Motion Twin said “Update 35 for Dead Cells marks the end of our creative journey on the game. After an incredible five year collaboration in bringing additional content to dead cells live ops, Evil Empire will be pursuing new adventures”

According to Motion Twin, in a 2023 press release, they had stated that Dead Cells would see meaningful updates until 2025, but have since said that it was a mistake to say that as early as they did. However, that was never official and the only official roadmap for Dead Cells only had content coming until the end of 2023. Motion Twin also stated that in late September 2023, Evil Empire were working on an early prototype for a new DLC that they put an end to because they felt that it did not fit into the mold of the original game.

On March 12, Evil Empire posted onto their social media “After nearly 5 years of service, 4 DLC’s, 18 updates, some epic crossovers, Evil Empire will no longer be working on Dead Cells. The good news is that our Dead Cells team have been unleashed to pump their talent into our secret projects, and we’ll be revealing what their crazy minds have been coming up with very soon. Time to start a new game (or two)”

The situation seems pretty black and white, except for the input from former Motion Twin employee #3 Sebastian Benard, who left to form his own studio in 2019, Deepnight Games. Sebastian thinks that the whole situation is just marketing speak and that there were ulterior motives. However, there are too many conversations and deals that are happening behind closed doors that only Motion Twin and Evil Empire are privy to.

There were reports that Evil Empire had more plans for Dead Cells in 2024 and 2025, but that the partnership was ended abruptly. However this is all speculation as both sides have made amicable statements. There are a lot of aspects of the Dead Cells deal that the public doesn’t have knowledge of including financials, which make all the difference. Dead Cells might have sold over 11 millions with a large percentage of those being thanks to Evil Empire, who continued to carry the torch and expand the series, but after those sales, how much actually makes it back to Motion Twin. After Evil Empire takes their cut to pay 70 employees and hopefully make a profit as well how much is leftover and how much are Evil Empire paying to use the IP? There are too many unanswered questions. The deal just might not be making financial sense for both sides anymore.

Sure, there might have been 11 million sales but how many of those people are buying every new update? It could have been a diminishing audience with diminishing returns and it could have gotten to the point keeping Dead Cells going wasn’t worth the trouble. It’s unknown and although it’s unfortunate that it has come to an end somewhat abruptly, there is no denying that Dead Cells got more post launch support than 90 percent of the games out there. To put into perspective how long Dead Cells has been supported, the game released into early access the same year the Nintendo Switch released.

Good news for Evil Empire and Motion Twin

Despite how thing all shook out, the situation feels reminiscent of playdead. After INSIDE shipped, multiple core members of playdead departed including multiple leadership roles. Dino Patti, one of the co founders left and helped form Jumpship, whose first game came out in 2022 to average reviews. Jeppe Carlsen, lead gameplay designer on LIMBO and INSIDE left to found Geometric Interactive with their first game, Cocoon releasing in 2023 to overwhelming critical acclaim. Finally, that leaves playdead, who are still being led by co founder Arnt Jensen on a new 3D project.

The thing to take away from this is that even though there was clearly some falling outs, the situation worked out pretty well for everyone involved as they found better opportunities for themselves. It also worked out quite well for gamers, who have been treated with more games, that at the core, feature some playdead DNA. The same thing will hopefully happen with Motion Twin and Evil Empire. We already know that Motion Twin is working on Windblown, which we called “Our Most Anticipated Roguelike of 2024” and Evil Empire have already hinted at the studio working on two unannounced games.

Evil Empire were founded in 2019, and have only been known for their work on Dead Cells. There is obviously a large part of the studio that wants to prove what it’s capable of, create their own identity and the two unannounced games give the studio a chance to show the world.

There has been reporting that Evil Empire has been working on a Prince of Persia Roguelike, which makes a lot of sense. The team has strong experince working on a roguelike as they have been creating and updating one of the best ever for the past five years. They are also located in Bordeaux, France and that is only about a four or five hour drive from Montpellier, France. Montpellier is the home for the Ubisoft studio that was in charge of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which seems all too coincidental.

Dead Cells had a great run. From something that started in 2017 in Early Access and has been supported very strongly with meaningful updates often, it’s safe to say that it was treated fairly. As Motion Twin said in their statement “it’s crucial not to overextend and risk diminishing the unique charm that makes Dead Cells special to us all”

How many bands, movies, TV series, or even game franchises that you love went on too long that only ended up diminishing the value of the original? I can think of countless examples. Most of the updates were also free for Dead Cells owners, with the exception of the very large annual ones and I’m sure they have metrics with diminishing returns from one DLC to the next. It might be a little bumpy at first for the two studios, but this way seems like a better option in the long run for both studios, Evil Empire can now work on new IP and create a name for themselves and leaving Dead Cells alone, also allows Motion Twin to return to the series in the future if the time is right.

Until next time, remember to be nice to your fellow gamer, but more importantly, be nice to your fellow human.