Dwarf Fortress: How Freeware Turned Into Millions

If you're not familiar with Dwarf Fortress, you've missed out on a legendary story about a labor of love. The game, a minimalist experience in which you are managing a colony of dwarves as they live their lives and conduct their dwarf-y business, was created by two brothers sixteen years ago. It's an incredibly deep and detailed simulation and narrative builder... and it was released for free. This was during a time when lots of content producers were running around screaming about how free" as a content concept could never work for anything.

But it does work, when done well. And Dwarf Fortress was done really well. Zach and Tarn Adams recently released an updated and prettied up version of the title on Steam and itch.io and the initial sales total in the millions of dollars.

The fairytale ending is reality, but you didn't kiss the toad," Zach Adams wrote on Bay 12 Games' forums. You gave him money." He went on to write the kind of grateful response to fans you don't often see from game developers:

Tarn Adams noted that a little less than half will go to taxes," and that other people and expenses must be paid. But enough of it will reach the brothers themselves that we've solved the main issues of health/retirement that are troubling for independent people." It also means that Putnam, a longtime modder and scripter and community member, can continue their work on the Dwarf Fortress code base, having been hired in December.

Again, all stemming from a game that was released for free as a labor of love initially. So, how does something like this happen? Well, some of the answers to that are obvious. The Adams brothers made a great product that people wanted, for starters. They also continued working on and updating that product based on the feedback and input they were getting from its fans.

But the real power here is in these creators being awesome and human and treating the community as a community, rather than merely customers or content consumers. These guys have never been greedy, never treated the community poorly, and have generally built a great connection with their fans. The result is loyalty from the fanbase and a willingness to fork over money for an updated product that is mostly only aesthetically different from the free product.

As of today, Dwarf Fortress' Steam page summarizes the game's more than 17,000 reviews as Overwhelmingly Positive." I am speechless to people around me between game sessions," wrote jozef.sova. Had my Chief Militia Commander tackle a Giant Cyclops over a waterfall ravine 10 stories killing it at the bottom," wrote DEV. Guy couldn't get out and he drowned, may he never be forgotten."

Make a great product. Release it for free. Build up the fanbase and the loyalty from them. Then ask for money for an upgraded version.

The result? Millions.