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After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

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Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#71
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They are definitely in 'set for life if we make wise choices' territory Sure it seems that way now, but what happens when a volcano appears under their house and it floods with lava? Or they go to war with the elves?

I'm sure they'll be able to afford volcano insurance. I bet they could even find someone who's willing to insure their homes against Elf invasions.

That's a thing, in Washington.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#72

Worth noting that in the Steam store it says Windows only right now. (no Penguin/Linux yet)

It should be coming to Linux and Mac once they figure out the packaging.

Ooh, is this a "matter of weeks" thing? Is there a post on this the curious can follow?

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#73

Wow, this is such a #goodnews story! > "I'll have to rework… my, uh, whole life, figure out what the heck's going on there. I don't really have any ideas or plans right now. I've just been thinking about dwarf stuff." > "My wife has plans," Zach said. "We live in a tiny little house, so buying a new house, that's a major goal."

This is a goodnews day. This, fusion announcement, and the Apple forced to allow 3rd party stores. Haven't had anything like it in a while.

Just bought the game out of respect even if I don't get to play it.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#74
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they? 300,000 units * $30 = $9M - 30% Steam tax = $6.3M in a single year take out federal taxes (just gonna call it 36% and ignore SFJ/MFJ), leaves them about $2M each. I'm sure they're some sort of a legal entity in WA state and will owe the b&o tax too. They deserve it absolutely but $2M each does not put them in a position of "fuck you" [1]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfeXqHFmPI

It’s on a million wishlists, and this game is evergreen, it’s going to get there.

Once macos and linux support drip, I imagine there will be a new wave of sales too.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#75
post #22
post #2

They are definitely in 'set for life if we make wise choices' territory. In another month I'm betting they will be in 'set for life even if we make foolish choices' territory. I'm really happy for them. They really stayed true to their passion and I'm happy to see them rewarded for this.

> They are definitely in 'set for life if we make wise choices' territory Sure it seems that way now, but what happens when a volcano appears under their house and it floods with lava? Or they go to war with the elves?

technically, they are still "set for life" assuming that they are in the house when it floods with lava.

Remember: Build a man a fire and you keep him warm for one night; light a man on fire and you keep him warm for the rest of his life.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#76
So this happened to a guy that worked for me. Loved video games, super talented front end dev. Made a horror game in Unity at evenings and weekends with his best friend. Launched it on Steam. Very low sales. But he learnt a huge amount about marketing and game design based on player feedback.

Designed a second game, put all the marketing learnings into it, 48 hours after launch the biggest streamer on twitch was streaming it.

4 days later he quit working for me. Couldnt be happier for him.

The biggest thing I saw was that 2 guys, Unity, unity asset store and some upwork artists made a really pretty decent game. I love how this has come full circle. I'm 47 and back in the 8 bit days games were made by 1 or 2 people. 15 years ago this just wasnt possible, but now with unity, unity assets, remote for hire work, steam and twitch for marketing you can legit make it as a 2 person studio. I love it.

The distribution of Steam and viral marketing of Twitch have revolutionised indie development for the better. In addition to this, as an asset he now has a Discord server with 10ksss+ subscribers. I doubt he will ever pay for a $ of traditional above or below the line marketing.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#77
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they’re smart they hopefully have incorporated and will only need to take money out of the corporation to pay themselves to cover their expenses. So they won’t pay tax on the full amount up front and will have most of the money pretax for future business expenses

I would guess Steam will only distribute games from companies for legal reasons...so most likely, yes.

Individuals are legal businesses in the US (a "sole proprietor").

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#78
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$2m in the bank is enough to easily draw $100k/yr from interest, which fits the GP’s “set for life if we make wise choices” IMO. That is way above median income in wealthy countries. Assuming you don’t try to live in SF!

Even in the US, $100K/yr puts you comfortably above median income. If I had $100K/yr of GUARANTEED income, I would stop working for money and do whatever I felt like for the rest of my life.

Yeah, something absurdly fun, like making video games.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#79

So this happened to a guy that worked for me. Loved video games, super talented front end dev. Made a horror game in Unity at evenings and weekends with his best friend. Launched it on Steam. Very low sales. But he learnt a huge amount about marketing and game design based on player feedback. Designed a second game, put all the marketing learnings into it, 48 hours after launch the biggest streamer on twitch was stre…

That’s awesome. Would you mind sharing which game it was?

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#80

So this happened to a guy that worked for me. Loved video games, super talented front end dev. Made a horror game in Unity at evenings and weekends with his best friend. Launched it on Steam. Very low sales. But he learnt a huge amount about marketing and game design based on player feedback. Designed a second game, put all the marketing learnings into it, 48 hours after launch the biggest streamer on twitch was stre…

That’s awesome. Would you mind sharing which game it was?

I'm not sure if he would be upset with me if I were to publish how small his team was, sorry! Maybe the reasons above will change this.
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