As a dedicated fan of Dwarf Fortress, I have racked up 92 hours of play time and counting since the game's December launch on Steam. And I am far from alone in my enthusiasm for this complex and rewarding colony simulation game. In fact, according to a recent report by Bay 12 Games, Dwarf Fortress has achieved impressive success since its release, selling half a million copies by the end of December. This information was shared in the monthly Bay 12 Games report, which traditionally features updates on revenue generated through player donations. In this case, the report also included Steam sales figures for the first time.
In a statement, Tarn Adams, the lead developer of Dwarf Fortress, expressed gratitude for the game's success and noted that the final numbers will not be available until mid-February when all sales have been processed through Valve and Kitfox. Adams also mentioned that the game's launch was a great success and that almost half a million copies were sold in December, an impressive feat.
Dwarf Fortress has been in development for over 20 years and has always been offered as a free download, with players able to support the game through donations made via PayPal or Patreon. The Steam release, developed in collaboration with Kitfox, offers a more user-friendly version of the game complete with a revised UI, mouse controls, tutorialization, and an official tileset for the price of £25. However, players can still choose to download the original version of the game for free and donate through traditional methods. In fact, Bay 12 Games received a total of $164,666 in donations in 2022, the highest amount since 2007.
The success of Dwarf Fortress is particularly noteworthy as it ensures that the dedicated team behind the game will be able to continue its development for years to come. In addition to bug fixes and quality of life improvements, the developers have also announced plans to bring the popular Arena mode to the Steam release and eventually bring Adventure mode, which transforms the game into a roguelike set within the same generated world as the colony sim mode, to the platform as well.