"Celeste taught me so much about myself and will always be a part of me".
Maddy Thorson, creator of the tricky yet accessible platformer Celeste, has written a self-reflective blog on the game’s fourth anniversary.
Released on 25th January 2018, the story of Celeste – that of overcoming impossible odds to climb the titular mountain – resonated with plenty of people, none more so than Thorson herself.
In a previous blog post from 2020, Thorson answered the question: “Is Madeline canonically trans?”. “During Celeste’s development, I did not know that Madeline or myself were trans,” she wrote. “During the Farewell DLC’s development, I began to form a hunch. Post-development, I now know that we both are.”
In this new blog post, Thorson thanks fans for the game’s reception and explains further how the game is intertwined with her trans identity.
“If the discourse around Celeste hadn’t become so focused on its queer undertones, I don’t think I would have come out publicly for a long time,” she says. “It felt like people needed to know whether Madeline was trans, and I felt a responsibility to engage with that conversation. Once I started trying to do just that, I found it impossible without talking about my own now-apparent transness.
“I think there’s value in the confirmation that yes, Celeste is a trans story in addition to its broader relatability. I am thrilled that my work and my personal story have helped people, and I think that it’s important for real live trans people to be visible.”
With this, though, comes a sense of “heavy responsibility” for Thorson. It’s for this reason she plans to step away from social media.
“Who I am is changing, or wants to change, and this public persona has become an obstacle to that change,” she says. “It doesn’t feel like I have room to be the messy, growing human I am in this kind of position. I’m not ready to be a symbol in the way that social media demands – I’m still just a girl who’s trying to figure her shit out.
“I do not want to make Celeste again and I do not want to be who I was when we made Celeste, again.
“And this gender transition, more than anything else, is begging me to let go. I need to let go of who I was and the roles that I tried so desperately to fill. I need to allow my identity to disintegrate. I need to have faith that the essential core that constitutes ‘me’ is indestructible.”
While she reflects on the importance of Celeste, it’s time for Thorson to look ahead to the future.
“Celeste taught me so much about myself and will always be a part of me. But for me it’s ultimately about who I was – it can’t contain everything that I will ever be,” she says.
What’s next is a new game: Earthblade. There’s still no release date, but last year saw a “vibe reveal” showing teaser artwork and music. All we know is it’s a “2D explor-action game in a seamless pixel art world”.
Earthblade ? Vibe reveal! (?sound on!)
A 2D explor-action game in a seamless pixel art world. The next release from the Celeste team, coming 20XX. pic.twitter.com/ceAM80PEaG
Celeste is available to play on Switch, PC, Stadia, Xbox and PlayStation.
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our policy.
Jump to comments (0)
More about Celeste
About the author
Ed Nightingale
News reporter
Ed is Reporter at Eurogamer, with an interest in streaming, people and communities, and giving a voice to marginalised people.
Related
Banjo-Kazooie headed to Nintendo Switch Online in January
UPDATE: Out on 20th January.
Sonic the Hedgehog will become playable via Tesla
Please don’t go fast.
Rayman Origins is currently free on PC
And you’ve got until next Wednesday to grab it.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land release date set for March
New trailer released.
Insomniac teases museum Easter egg in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Deep in the rift.
You may also enjoy…
Recommended | ElecHead review – a more than clever platformer
Bright spark.
Review | Exo One review – not quite out-of-this-world enough
Star for the course.
Essential | Metroid Dread review – a sublime return for a Nintendo icon
The Chozo one.
Recommended | Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania review – effective cover version of an all-time great
Gon-gon in 60 seconds.
Feature | The Super Mario Bros. speedrunning community just broke the 4 minute and 55-second mark – why does that matter?
Plumbing new depths.
Supporters only
Supporters only | Letter from the editor: Hi, I’m new at this
Why I love Eurogamer, and how I hope not to screw it up.
Premium only | Off Topic: Ellen Raskin’s picture books are as rich as her novels
They’re just harder to come by.
Premium only | Laughing with Dan Marshall and Ben Ward in The Eurogamer Podcast
Let’s have a wonderful time gentleman, please!
Premium only | Off Topic: A Tokyo climbing wall like no other
Gripping.
Premium only | Off Topic: Is there a more cinematic space than the elevator?
Ding!
Comments (0)
Advertisement
Buy things with globes on them
And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store!
Subscribe to The Eurogamer.net Daily
The 10 most popular stories of the day, delivered at 5pm UK time. Never miss a thing.
Bad puns and video games since 1999.
This site © 2021 Gamer Network Limited, a ReedPop company. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site or its content may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder.
Explore
Helpful links
Across Europe
ReedPop
Sign in
Connect with Facebook
New in town?
Criador de Celeste reflete sobre o quarto aniversário do jogo
26
jan
