Over the last few months, the ancient indie game Dwarf Fortress has made headlines with crazy successes on Steam. The developers have now provided exact figures.
The long history of the game “Dwarf Fortress” began more than 20 years ago, but took a crazy turn in late 2022.
- Since 2002, brothers Tarn and Zach Adams have been developing the game as indie developers. It became increasingly complex but was originally free.
- In late 2022, the brothers decided to release on Steam – because they needed money. Donations simply wouldn’t be enough to cover health concerns, for example.
- On December 6, it finally happened – and the game exploded on Steam. The sales exceeded the developers’ expectations, they suddenly became millionaires.
The brothers reported that the game sold half a million copies in December. Exact figures, they said at the time, could not be provided until the processes with Valve and the new publisher Kitfox Games were finalized.
But now the time has come.
Developer reports exact number: “Thanks to everyone who helped”
In the Bay 12 Games forum, the studio of the two, Tarn Adams reported under the nickname “Toady One” with an update. On February 1, 2023, he explained:
“So, the wheels have turned, and here is what we got, especially yesterday,” he writes (via bay12forums.com).
Adams writes that Dwarf Fortress has generated a total of $7,230,123.58 – or €6,619,973.45. For the previous months, he lists the following figures:
- December: $15,635.07
- November: $14,071.27
- October: $15,374.72
- September: $14,679.51
Through the Steam release, the game has generated 426 times the amount of a “normal” month – and thus seemingly put an end to the developers’ biggest concerns, as Adams describes.
“Just less than half goes to taxes, and we continue to pay people and new business expenses and so on, so it’s not all personal money,” the statement goes: “But a large part of it is. Enough that we’ve solved the main issues of health/retirement, which are problematic for independent people.”
Moreover, the future of the game is now secured for the time being – so much so that they even expanded the team: “Thank you very much to everyone who helped!”
In terms of reviews, things are still looking good: The game is rated “overwhelmingly positive” with a total of 95% on Steam.
It will be exciting to see how Dwarf Fortress continues after the initial hype on Steam. Other games are also receiving good feedback on Steam – such as the space co-op game “Astroneer.”
