A reward 20 years in the making

The recent release of Dwarf Fortress after a 20-year development cycle has had a transformative effect on the two brothers behind the game. Now that people have had the chance to give the developers money by simply buying their game rather than donating to a project, hundreds of thousands have done so.

Dwarf Fortress has sold over 500,000 copies over Steam since launching in December last year. This has provided a welcome income stream to the developers, whose income over the past 20 years has consisted of donations from fans of their unreleased game.

Many industry observers thought that Dwarf Fortress might never be released, or that if it were released it would sink without a trace. Imitators have over the years slimmed down the game’s interface to make it more playable, and relied on modding extensions to provide for the variety and depth of the original. I’m talking about Rimworld, but also other titles.

Not every independent title will achieve what Dwarf Fortress has done, but it’s nice to see a game’s creators reaping the rewards of their work.