It is a shame your game had to be taken down, but you have done the right thing, since they are the copyright holders. I was asked about whether or not I was interested on a specific C64 game project myself, but declined to develop it due to the same reason and also the complexity of the game design.
Viewing post in Balatro for the Commodore 64 / C64 (work in progress) comments
Hey Richard! I totally agree—it’s always better to respect the copyright holders, even if it feels disappointing for the community. I’m really curious which C64 project you were approached with, but I can fully see why you declined if it was both a legal and technical challenge.
I’ll definitely keep creating retro projects, just with original ideas or safe inspirations. Hope you’ll enjoy those too!