Dead Cells is one of the past decade’s most visible success stories, the insanely popular metroidvania-inspired roguelite quickly bringing developer Motion Twin into the spotlight. A sequel would have, perhaps, felt like a no-brainer for anyone, but even before development ended in 2024, the studio announced it was exploring a new universe in Windblown.
The move was met with both curiosity and plenty of confused disappointment, leaving fans of the developer’s notorious roguelite predictably expressing their wishes for Dead Cells 2. Co-creative director and game designer Yannick Berthier has now shed some light on what prompted the team to skip taking the safe sequel route, at least for the time being.
Motion Twin Explains Why It Moved to Windblown Over Developing Dead Cells 2
“We are driven by what we want to make,” he told PCGamesN.
The studio’s structure is built around most of its developers being partners of the company, allowing it more freedom in terms of which projects it pursues. Then, perhaps ironically, Dead Cells’ success further contributed to their decision of moving away from the IP on which they had worked for so long.
“If we were a ‘business,’ we would be talking about Dead Cells 2 right now,” he continued. “We are not talking about Dead Cells 2. We are talking about Windblown, because we are a collective of individuals that are creative and want to create stuff.”
And create stuff they did. Windblown entered early access in late October 2024 and, although it has yet to reach the same concurrent player peak as Dead Cells, it continues to receive regular updates, while having secured a Very Positive Steam review rating for itself.
Berthier does admit that, had Motion Twin been owned by a bigger company, “maybe the [internal] pressure to do a sequel would have been way, way stronger.”
He also doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the “super strong” external pressure from fans, who leave comments asking about Dead Cells 2 on “every post” the developer makes.
Windblown’s early access stint was meant to last for a minimum of one year. Although that anniversary is coming up in just four days, the studio did note that it would give itself “the flexibility to use more time if it allows us to improve the experience for you the players.”
For the latest gaming news, follow GameWatcher on BlueSky, check out our videos on YouTube, or give us a like on Facebook. We sometimes include affiliate links in our posts, which grants us a small commission, thank you.
