Slay the Spire 2 dev hates microtransactions, even though players would definitely pay for them: 'A lot of our players threaten to buy all and any cosmetics we may ever release'

Slay the Spire 2 is out now in early access, and once you drop some cash on it, it will probably be the last time you need to spend any money on the game. That's because developer Mega Crit is no friend to microtransactions.

"We're microtransaction haters," Casey Yano, co-founder of Mega Crit, told Destructoid recently. And this is despite Yano being aware of how much some players would love to splash out on some extra bits and bobs. "A lot of our players threaten to buy all and any cosmetics we may ever release."

This philosophy feels pretty consistent with the price of Slay the Spire 2, as well. Despite being the long-awaited sequel to an astronomically popular game, Mega Crit isn't asking people to dig deep into their pockets. It's only £19.99/$24.99.

From the sound of it, there's not much point in Mega Crit trying to double dip anyway, as it's given so much power to the modders, who'll be able to fiddle with the code and make all sorts of changes and new distractions, which other players will be able to enjoy for free. The OG Slay the Spire also had mod support, but it's more of a focus this time around.

"Both in STS 1 and STS 2, you can replace entire swathes of code, so you can kind of do anything," Yano said. "A lot of our focus this time around is reducing friction, so players have more resources and easier entry points to work with mods."

Despite facing a lot more competition this time—competition the OG game largely inspired—Slay the Spire 2's early access launch could not have gone better. It quickly shot up to the top of the Steam charts, becoming the #1 seller on the platform while soundly beating fellow new releases Marathon and Resident Evil Requiem.