Slay the Spire 2 developer Mega Crit has taken a firm stance against microtransactions. The first game in the series was a massive hit, quickly becoming a fan favorite in the growing deckbuilder scene, and thankfully for players, it seems the team behind it is capitalizing on that success without squeezing more money from its players. Like the original before it, Slay the Spire 2 will not have any microtransactions, now or in the future.
Not everything has gone according to plan for Mega Crit since announcing its highly anticipated sequel. As the devs worked to add more content and make sure everything ran smoothly, the studio had to delay Slay the Spire 2 into 2026 after originally aiming for a 2025 release. Now, though, the game is out, and while any early access title can expect to see some changes, Mega Crit has put its foot down on one aspect of the original that it won’t be moving away from.
Slay the Spire 2: Tips and Tricks for Beginners
Become a master of the Spire with these helpful suggestions.
Slay the Spire 2’s Devs are ‘Microtransaction Haters’
Mega Crit co-founder Casey Yano told Destructoid that while some Slay the Spire players have said they’ll buy any cosmetics the studio releases, the developers are “microtransaction haters,” so they will not monetize the game that way. It’d be understandable if the team wanted to implement some premium cosmetics, as Slay the Spire 2 drew over 280,000 concurrent players upon launch, so there could be a lot of money to make through paid content. However, it seems Mega Crit is more concerned with maintaining what made the first game so popular to begin with. That commitment goes deeper than the lack of microtransactions, too, as Slay the Spire 2 shares the first game’s modest price tag of just $25.
Yano went on to explain that Mega Crit wants all players to experience the same content. Even if microtransactions did not affect gameplay, they would mean not everyone would be able to access everything without paying, so they’d stand in the way of the “discussion on content” Mega Crit says is its “lifeblood.” Yano also mentioned how the team hopes to make the sequel more balanced than the first, which may come as a surprise to some fans in light of how Slay the Spire has received praise for its balance already. Still, Yano says devs are continually working toward this goal, which may hint at future adjustments as new obstacles arise during early access.
Looking beyond the game’s monetization model, Yano confirmed that Slay the Spire 2 will have robust mod support. The first Slay the Spire had multiple noteworthy mods that made the game larger, more varied, and even more accessible in terms of difficulty. This community involvement is apparently important to Mega Crit, as Yano said the devs are trying to make modding even easier in the sequel. While he did not go into specifics about what modders can expect, he did promise “more resources” and “easier entry points” for making and playing with user-made content. At the same time, Mega Crit will push out plenty of its own content throughout early access, though Yano admitted even he isn’t certain what future updates will entail and said the team doesn’t want to change things too often, as that could stand in the way of players’ sense of progression and accomplishment.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Mega Crit is not the first indie studio to take a stand against microtransactions and other norms in modern gaming. AdHoc Studio’s leadership attributed Dispatch‘s success to its lack of microtransactions and its unconventional, episodic release schedule. Many gamers and industry professionals alike seem to agree that there’s no one right way to make a game, but developers like AdHoc and Mega Crit have found success in sticking to their guns and committing to the kinds of titles they would want to play.
- Released
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March, 2026
- Developer(s)
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Mega Crit
- Publisher(s)
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Mega Crit
- Engine
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Godot
Source: Destructoid
