Celeste: Porting One of the Decade’s Best Platformers to Console

Celeste, a precision platformer by Maddy Makes Games, ported to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch by Sickhead Games

Title: Celeste
Release Date: 2018
Developer: Maddy Makes Games
Publisher: Maddy Makes Games
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Engine: Microsoft XNA / MonoGame

Celeste is a precision platformer from Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry about climbing a mountain while wrestling with anxiety, and it’s one of the most acclaimed indie games ever made. Sickhead handled all three console ports, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, for a release on the same day. Coordinating a simultaneous three-platform launch means three separate certification pipelines running in parallel, each with its own hardware quirks and submission requirements. And with Celeste specifically, the controls are everything… frame-perfect dashes, wall grabs, instant respawns. A game that demanding lives or dies by how well it’s been adapted to each platform’s input system. Shipping it clean across three consoles on the same day is no small task.


Sickhead Games is the leading game porting studio, bringing Unity, Unreal, Godot, and custom engine titles to console and handheld including PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS. From codebase assessment to post-launch support, we're trusted by solo indies and major publishers alike, including Humble Games, Sony Interactive, Nintendo, Annapurna, Good Games, ConcernedApe, MegaCrit, 17-Bit, Maddy Makes Games, Zachtronics, Keen Software House, Thomas Happ, Pocketwatch Games, EXOK, Young Horses, Taito, Jaleco, and Microsoft. We've shipped over 100 releases, among them Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire, Axiom Verge, Space Engineers, and Celeste. We specialize in bringing retro masterpieces, indie darlings, and PC classics to modern audiences like Grandia, Enclave, and Jaleco Sports titles.