"Dwarf Fortress" continues its rapid ascent: DF programmer and co-designer Tarn Adams announced this week that the game's "premium" Steam version sold nearly half a million copies last month after its December 6 release (opens in new tab). 16 years of free play. People seem to be lining up to spend money on the game: Dwarf Fortress is an incredibly unique game (opens in new tab).

This news means that DF has torn their pre-release sales projections to shreds. Before the game's Steam version was released, economists hired by publisher Kitfox tentatively predicted that it would sell about 160,000 copies in its first two months on Steam. Within 24 hours of its launch, this prediction was met (opens in new tab). Now, in less than a month, sales have more than tripled that figure.

"Dwarf Fortress seems like a wild success," says Adams, who writes under the nickname "Toady One," a nickname he has used since before DF's initial release, and continues, " None of this would have been possible without the support of the people who have helped us ...... This has been by far the best of my life along these wonderful 20 years...... We will prevail...... And it's your fault!"

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He's not wrong: since December 6, Tarn Adams and his brother and DF co-creator, Zach Adams, have had to confront two new life-changing realities. Number one: the success of their game has made the brothers millionaires (opens in new tab). Number two: they had to hire a second programmer (opens in new tab).

DF's Steam release was originally planned so that the brothers could continue to tinker with their life's work, pay their medical bills, and take better care of themselves. I think we can handle it now. At this rate, it won't be long before the game sells more than a million copies; when PCG's Wes Fenlon spoke with Tarn Adams (open in new tab) in 2019, he asked, "If the game sells that well, what will the brothers do with the money?" Adams had one answer: "You have a lot of people, animals, etc. in need. Children who don't have school supplies. All kinds of things. It's like Brewster's Millions.