Former lead designer and developer of Dead Cells, Sébastien Benard, has strongly criticized the decision to halt development on the game, branding it as “the worst imaginable asshole move” by publisher Motion Twin.
Benard, who contributed to Dead Cells until late 2019 before founding his own solo venture, Deepnight, shared his sentiments regarding the cessation of Dead Cells’ development on the game’s Discord server. His remarks were brought to light by PCGamesN after his opinion was asked for.
While Eurogamer attempted to verify Benard’s statements, they found that his posts were no longer accessible on the server at the time of their report. Nevertheless, discussions among users about his commentary persist.
In his expressed viewpoint, Benard did not mince words: “Since you’re asking me, I’d just say [Motion Twin] did the worst imaginable asshole move against Dead Cells and [Evil Empire]. Having seen firsthand the actual situation behind the scenes, I can honestly say I’m glad not to be part of this anymore. The official statement is total marketing bullshit, the way this situation happened is on a whole different level. I never imagined my former co-op studio would turn out to be such greedy people. I wish the absolute best to [Evil Empire] for their next things, and hope people working there will survive this sudden economic cut.”
Evil Empire, an internal studio within Motion Twin, emerged from the success of Dead Cells and comprises several developers eager to continue the game’s legacy. Although Evil Empire oversees the development process, Motion Twin retains authority in making decisions regarding the game’s future.
The future projects of Evil Empire remain unclear following the final free update of Dead Cells, titled “The End is Near.” Motion Twin unveiled “Windblown,” an action roguelite, at The Game Awards in December of the previous year, slated for an early access launch sometime this year.
