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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

The developer of well-received Steam Early Access first-person shooter Fortune's Run has ceased work on the game after receiving a three-year prison sentence.

In a shock announcement on the Fortune’s Run Steam page, sole developer Dizzie explained “why the development is imploding.”

“First of all, I have some stuff going on I need to make public as it's going to interrupt development,” Dizzie said.

“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.

“So the game isn't totally dead, but unfortunately due to even further bad things happening, it's unclear what will happen.”

Fortune's Run launched in early access form on Steam in September 2023 and met with a "very positive" user review rating. Its blend of quick-fire first-person shooter elements with immersive sim mechanics inspired by the likes of Deus Ex and Thief caught the attention of PC Gamer, which called Fortune's Run "one of the best shooters you can play right now." Dizzie was one of just two developers working on the game, the other being her wife, Arachne, although she recently left the project.

Dizzie refused to reveal the exact nature of the sentence or the charges, but insisted she did not commit “a sex crime.” “What I did was wrong and that's all you need to know,” Dizzie added.

Dizzie also told Fortune’s Run fans that the case dates from “before I met the other dev,” which is a reference to Arachne. “She is not related to it in any way,” Dizzie added.

It appears to be the case that Arachne left the project following a significant surgery last summer. “Like I said, the other dev was recovering from a botched surgery,” Dizzie said. “If you want to accuse me of something, accuse me of stressing her out with my legal problems and my crazy work schedule.”

“The other developer has left the project,” Dizzie’s message continued. “Once she recovered, she decided that she was no longer interested in game development. She was in charge of [quality assurance] and a few level segments, all of which [have] been abandoned and I've been forced to get by on my own for the past while. 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.”

As you’d expect, the prison sentence puts an end to Fortune’s Run development, although Dizzie insisted it will begin again upon release.

“Since we [Dizzie and Arachne] decided to part ways, development will be completely interrupted until I'm released,” Dizzie said.

“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 okay, 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. In fact, there's not very much content left to work on; I've been making stubs and prototypes of the missing levels in my spare time.

“I am extremely passionate about this stuff and I'm never going to stop making games. I'd like to finish this one, but I don't know what will happen. I'm going to do my best, because I love this game and I want to finish it. Seriously, I just want to finish it. Finish it already, Dizzie!”

In a separate post on Steam, Dizzie published patch notes for a new Fortune’s Run update and mentioned an upcoming post that will detail work set to take place next month before her prison sentence begins.

Steam Shooter Fortune's Run on Hold Because the Developer Is Going to Prison

"I've lived a very different life before I was a game developer."

sea.ign.com

 

[ssringo]

Well, that's a new one. It's great that they're a changed person (supposedly) but you gotta pay your debt to society. It's also great that their game sold well enough that they'll have something when they get out to get themselves back on their feet. It'll be interesting to see what happens to them/their game in a few years (assuming it makes the news).

 

[Guilty_AI]

Still not as wild as one of Sonic creators being imprisioned. But thats a shame, i was looking forward to this game. Guess 2028 can't come soon enough.

 

[winjer]

 

[BennyBlanco]

Demo was fun. That sucks.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Never heard of this game, but will have to check it out.

 

[CLW]

 

[Draugoth]

At least he regrets it

 

[hououinkyouma00]

I still have an unfinished tattoo because my tattoo artist went to prison.

 

[Alexios]

Too bad, it looked promising. Kind of weird they're trying to appear all regretful but go on a rant about facing the consequences of the crime being pointless/useless or whatever. Too bad. Here are some other immersive sims to look into since this one isn't happening for a few more years at least:

Gloomwood, Shadows of Doubt, Peripeteia, Lonely Space, Beyond Hanwell, Core Decay, Neet, RetroSpace, ETOS, Weird West, Fallen Aces, DataJack 2020, Aqua Metsis, Judas, Safe Not Safe, Ctrl Alt Ego, Spectra, Corpus Edax, Athanasia, Sorceress, Parkside, Blood West, Streets of Rogue 2, Neverlooted Dungeon, Imprisoned Hyperion 2, Psycho Patrol R, Skin Deep, Heartrender, Memories of a Spy, The Crimson Lyre, Voltage High Society, Final Defect, Monomyth, Maliguard, Sonar Shock, The Muller-Powell Principle, Industria 2, adjacent Thief-likes like Serpens, Filcher and Neon Struct...

 

[Topher]

Lazy devs and their excuses

 

[ReyBrujo]

Sounds like a good excuse for not patching the game.

Still not as wild as one of Sonic creators being imprisioned.

Still not as wild as ReiserFS creator murdering his wife. Don't mess with us devs, we are ticking bombs!

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

"the other being her wife" - A violent lesbian?

 

[Guilty_AI]

Still not as wild as ReiserFS creator murdering his wife. Don't mess with us devs, we are ticking bombs!

To get my respect you need to at least cut off your own ear and bite off the head of a bat on stage.

 

[lughnasadh123]

I truly hope he's learned his lesson to pick and stay on a better path going forward.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

I still have an unfinished tattoo because my tattoo artist went to prison.

 

[Shifty1897]

Well, they'll have plenty of time to design and write in prison. I actually don't know what you do in prison with all that time. What I do know is if I ever go to US prison I will get killed pretty quickly, which might be a mercy.