Dead Cells wasn’t only one of the best indie titles of 2018, it was also simply one of the best games of the year, period. It garnered a great deal of critical reception, which translated well in terms of sales as well- so naturally, the question on many people’s minds is, will developers Motion Twin capitalize on that success with a sequel? Is Dead Cells something they’re looking to turn into a franchise? As it turns out, no- that’s not at all what they’re planning on doing.
Speaking in an interview with Game Informer, Motion Twin’s Sébastien Bénard, designer on Dead Cells, said that the success of the roguelike metroidavnia isn’t something the developer wants to dwell on too much, and instead wants to move forward with it and work on something that’s fresh and new.
“In terms of a sequel, we know for sure it’s not a good idea to dwell on your success,” said Bénard. “If you create a big hit, it’s best to use this energy to make something different. I don’t think we’ll make a Dead Cells 2.”
Even if the studio does ever come back to Dead Cells, according to Bénard, they’ll want to do something completely different with it, rather than building on the structure of the original. “We’re more open to creating more content and opening the game up more to the community,” he said. “If we did make a Dead Cells 2, it’s because we really need the money (laughs). We don’t want to stick to the same thing though, so I think if we did come back it would be something quite different, not a platformer or roguelike along these lines.”
It’s refreshing to see that sort of an attitude in a developer, to be honest- and given the success of the incredible Dead Cells, Motion Twin have earned enough trust from players that whatever it is they work on next is something a lot of people will look forward to, regardless of whether or not it is a sequel to Dead Cells.
Dead Cells is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.