The strategy game Dwarf Fortress and the SF game Deep Rock Galactic are considered two outstanding, good games about dwarves. The developers requested a “dwarf” tag from Steam. But Valve said no. Now the dwarves are planning a “very serious” uprising.
What is the demand?
- In January 2024, the developers of the games demanded a dedicated tag for “dwarves” from Steam. Just like the tags “Strategy” or “Action” are used, “Dwarves” should also become a tag.
- This started on Twitter as a somewhat joking gag between two friendly studios after the Steam awards, where Red Dead Redemption 2, abandoned by Rockstar, won the price for “Labor of Love” instead of any dwarf game.
- But Steam responded: “Dwarves are not a tag,” just like elves, centaurs, or wizards are not a tag.
The developers of Dwarf Fortress said: That may be true, but dwarves are just cooler and have much tougher fans than other mystical beings, so they will now just stress Steam until they realize how seriously the dwarves take this.
Dwarves mean it “very seriously” – Requesting help from players
This is now the situation: The developers of the dwarf games are now saying: The answer from Steam was perhaps “No,” but they heard “We will only do this if players start using dwarves as a tag.”
Because the logic is: There are tags for “magical creatures” like vampires and werewolves on Steam, but that did not come from Steam, rather from players tagging the games this way.
And it would be ridiculous if such a lousy werewolf gets better treatment than a proud dwarf.
Therefore, the devs are now asking their players:
“The next time you see a dwarf game on Steam, go ahead and add the tag manually. In time, Steam will see that we are very serious about the value of the dwarf tag. Remember, dwarves who stand together are a bit bigger than when they stand alone.”
Update 5.2., 20:10: The dwarves have won once again – Dwarves defeat Steam: Leading dwarf games get their way after all
