An nameless reader shares a report from Ars Technica:
The month earlier than Dwarf Fortress was launched on Steam (and Itch.io), the brothers Zach and Tarn Adams made $15,635 in income, principally from donations for his or her 16-year freeware mission. The month after the sport’s business debut, they made $7,230,123, or 462 occasions that quantity….
Tarn Adams famous that “rather less than half will go to taxes,” and that different individuals and bills should be paid. However sufficient of it can attain the brothers themselves that “we have solved the primary problems with well being/retirement which might be troubling for impartial individuals.” It additionally implies that Putnam, a longtime modder and scripter and neighborhood member, can proceed their work on the Dwarf Fortress code base, having been employed in December.
The “problems with well being/retirement” grew to become very actual to the brothers in 2019 when Zach needed to search remedy for pores and skin most cancers. The $10,000 price, principally coated by means of his spouse’s employer-provided insurance coverage, made them understand the necessity for extra strong sustainability. “You are not simply going to run GoFundMes till you’ll be able to’t after which die once you’re 50,” Tarn informed The Guardian in late 2022. “That isn’t cool.” This realization pushed them towards a (comparatively) extra accessible business launch with conventional graphics, music, and tutorials.
