Well, as excuses go it's a good one.
Fortune’s Run launched into Steam early access in September 2023, and quickly became a favourite on the PCG team. The game is like an immersive sim on fast-forward, with lightning fast melee combat, deep stealth mechanics, and immaculate dystopian vibes. Unfortunately, as good as it is, development is now “imploding.”
The game was a two person project, but has apparently been a one person project for a while now, and solo developer Dizzie has posted an update titled “Extremely Sad Depressing News.” The main thrust of which is that they’re off to jail.
“I have some stuff going on I need to make public as it’s going to interrupt development,” says Dizzie. “I’ve been sentenced to prison for the next three years. It’s a long story, but I’ve lived a very different life before I was a game developer, and I wasn’t living very well. My case is about five years old now, I have been going through the legal process the whole time I’ve been working on this.
“I have finally been found guilty and sentenced, and I’m going away next month. It’s a shame, but it’s the consequences of my actions. I was a very violent person and I hurt a lot of people in my life. Unfortunately, the sentence isn’t going to help with that at all, but I guess we all know that.”
Asked for further details, Dizzie refuses to go into the specifics though does clarify this is not a sex-related crime. “What I did was wrong and that’s all you need to know.”
Well, that’ll certainly slow down your update schedule. Dizzie says “the game isn’t TOTALLY dead, but it’s unclear what will happen.” On top of this news, Dizzie’s fellow developer has left the project. She is not linked to the crime in question. After recovering from surgery, she lost interest in the project and no longer works on it.
“It’s been very difficult to do alone but I actually managed, by basically not sleeping, to complete all of the work in time so that it could be released before I’m sent away,” says Dizzie, referring to what may be the final update to Fortune’s Run.
“Development will be completely interrupted until I’m released. I know many of you will be upset and disappointed but please understand that there’s absolutely nothing I can do, these wheels were in motion long before I started making this game and it’s just been slowly unraveling in my face the whole time.
“I want to underline that I’m no longer in financial dire straits since our game actually sold OK, so I should be able to afford rent once I get out, so there’s a chance that if you wait a few years I’ll be able to cap off the release.”
There’s apparently not all that much left to do on the game, and Dizzie says “seriously, I just want to finish it.” The developer ends by thanking the game’s community and fans for the “impact you made in my life” and signs off “let’s do it again sometime.”
I’ve written about abandoned games, apparent scams, and earlier today even wrote about one made with alien abductees that claims shadowy forces have shut it down with threats. But a game’s development going on hiatus because the solo dev behind it has been sent to the slammer is a new one.
The possibly final update for the game has now been released, adding more story content and quests, as well as “a huge combat level with new enemies and lots of new mechanics.” It is a chunky one and the additions include:
- New mission in three sections, same size as the last one! More stealth focus this time.
- Optional objective mission structure with rewards based on objective completion
- Finally implemented briefing shop where you can buy passive buffs that enhance things like attack and movement speed
- Vending machine system to load up on items and weapons mid-mission
- Hub level with quests, voice acted NPCs and meaningful story choices
- Two story sequences with puzzles and more lore
- New enemy faction with abilities such as energy shields, leaping attacks and fixed machinegun turrets
- New stealth systems like security cameras, proximity drones and moving laser tripwires you have to dance through
- New AI which can search, reinforce patrols and respond to the player more dynamically in general
- New environmental hazards like grinders and molten metal pits to throw people into
- Knockback mechanics that allow you to juggle enemies and bounce them against walls to do damage
- New weapons that deal elemental damage which interact with the environment
Fortune’s Run will apparently receive a few more fixes in the month before its developer goes to jail.
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