The struggles of being asolo game developerare no joke. Most game creators working in such regimes have to juggle family, and social life, and work, on top of community outreach and keeping the product alive.
The usual indie development business is hard enough, but Dizzie of Team Fortune has some bigger problems to worry about.
In a Steam update, the lead developer ofFortune’s Runshared that he will have topause the developmentofFortune’s Runto serve a 3-year prison sentence.
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Dizzie had previously shared development duties with his wife, known by the username Arachne, who handled QA and “a few level segments.” In July last year, surgery complications eventually led Arachne to drop out of the project, leaving Dizzie alone in charge of Fortune’s Run.
Ina Steam updateaptly titled Extremely Sad Depressing News, Act III,Dizzie spoke frankly to the community about the game’s futureand why it is in jeopardy.
When Fortune Runs Out
The lead-turned-solo developer explained that he has been sentenced to prison for 3 yearsover charges filed 5 years ago. Dizzie will go away next month.
The drawn-out legal process has been ongoing during the entire course ofFortune’s Rundevelopment. Dizzie explained that he was living a violent life before, and the sentence was “the consequences of my actions”.
Given the circumstances, with no one else to work on the game, Dizzie has confirmed that"development will be completely interrupted" until his release.
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The future ofFortune’s Runis unclear. The developer confirmed thatthe game’s financial performancehad left him in a comfortable spot for his eventual release, but Dizzie was reluctant to make promises.
Fortune’s Runcame out in early access in September 2023, and it has yet to reach the full release status.The developer would “like to finish this one”, but three years is a long timeto know what will happen.
According to him, “there’s not very much content left to work on”, and there are working prototypes for the missing levels.
Last but certainly not least, Dizzie thanked his Discord community andPatreon supportersfor making the game possible.
Fortune’s Runreceived a major title update as a parting gift, and the developer hopes to push some fixes out before starting his sentence.
