In some exciting news, Dwarf Fortress has sold one million copies on Steam. Publisher Kitfox Games took to Bluesky to announce this achievement and show their appreciation for the players who helped them reach this stage. They wrote:
“We’ve reached an exciting milestone: Dwarf Fortress has surpassed 1,000,000 sales on Steam! Each copy brings countless dwarves, fortresses, and unique worlds to life. Thank you to everyone who’s supported us!
Keep sharing your tales with us and STRIKE THE EARTH!”
The game witnessed a lot of effort from the side of Bay 12 Games, which is the studio founded by brothers Tarn and Zach Adams. It has been in development for around two decades, and it was finally released in 2022. So the news of Dwarf Fortress selling one million copies comes after three years since its release. The game was free for 20 years, but then Kitfox Games came into the picture and it became available for purchase. You can buy Dwarf Fortress on Steam for $14.99.
How Did Dwarf Fortress Reach One Million Copies?
The achievement of Dwarf Fortress selling one million copies didn’t happen easily to the two brothers. It was, however, expected in a way that this would actually happen. Just two months after its release in 2022, Dwarf Fortress reached 500,000 copies sold. What contributed to this success is the complete overhaul of the original game. The replacement of ASCII art with hand-drawn art was also beneficial. Then, last year, the game reached 800,000 copies. Now, Dwarf Fortress having one million copies sold might be because of the recent adventure mode update.
Tarn Adams, one of the two brothers, didn’t believe that it was possible for Dwarf Fortress to sell one million copies. “I mean, I didn’t actually think of [hitting a million sales] Because you’re like, when is that going to happen,” he told PC Gamer last year. There is still more to come for Dwarf Fortress as Kitfox Games announced that the game will have a new era of developments.
So fans of the game can expect new features in the future. Tarn has also revealed in a video update earlier this month that Bay 12 are working on new things. Some of them include improvements to sieges and site building in adventure mode. The two brothers are surely two indie developers to keep an eye on.
