Dwarven Fortress (opens in new tab) It hit Steam yesterday, and you probably already know it. In fact, it’s quite possible that you own one. Kitfox Games, which has released a “premium” Steam version of DF, with the help of an economist (opens in new tab) Before yesterday’s release, I tried to predict how many copies the game would eventually sell after the ASCII version spent 16 years Free download from Bay 12 website (opens in new tab)The forecast was respectable, with about 160,000 copies sold in two months.
Dwarven fortress raided it within 24 hours (opens in new tab).
In fairness to Kitfox’s poor economists, they described their experience predicting DF’s sales numbers as “like trying to drive in the rear-view mirror,” with an estimated sales of less than 100,000 in two months. It’s a testament to how difficult it is to accurately predict sales and behavior of Steam’s algorithms, and I don’t blame their predictive abilities.
While there are some fascinating pieces in Kitfox’s past catalogue, this is made even more difficult by the fact that nothing with Dwarf Fortress’ vast history and enthusiastic fanbase has been published. It will always be an outlier.
In fact, as I write this, the most popular thread on the game’s Steam discussion forums is one started by a fan wondering if they’ve been playing DF for free for 25 years. [sic] Are you just waiting for an opportunity to pay $30?”. Hundred Pages of People Saying Yes (opens in new tab)I’m no economist, but I think the high end of estimates so far could be pretty close to the target about two months from now.
Dwarf Traumatizer, the best of the games on PCG, liked it, and Dwarf Fortress received a nicely-upped Steam version at 84% of reviews. (opens in new tab) And we call it “an experience like no other.” It’s still a very complex obstacle simulator that “has to meet halfway through”, but let’s be honest, 16 years after its release, legions of fans lined up to throw in his $30 free. Are there other games?
