[ta0o0o0]

I seem to recall a profile of the game and it's creators that said it's mostly by choice.

Found it: they were offered 300K just to license the name.

  He has refused a programming job at a major developer 
  (he asked that I keep its name off the record) and 
  turned down a $300,000 offer from another company to 
  license the Dwarf Fortress name, fearing that the 
  proposed sum wouldn’t sufficiently offset the long-term 
  donations drop that would likely result.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of...

[lmm]

A one-off 300K isn't a lot for two people to live on if it would cut off their donation stream completely, and if you've been doing this for 10 years it may not be easy to find a job.

[thedavinci2000]

Serious question. Why would it not be easy?

[flashman]

Because once an employer sees you're the Dwarf Fortress developer, they'll turn down your application because you have more important things to do.

[moron4hire]

There are still a lot of employers who see time spent on your own venture as a gap in employment history. I mean, I guess it literally is, since you aren't an "employee". But they completely discount any applicable experience during that time.

[bduerst]

The founder Tarn Adams has a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Stanford, so I don't think any of his potential employers will mind that he spent his time working on a fantasy economic simulator of this scope.

[ta0o0o0]

I think it's indicative of the value of the property that just the name alone is worth 300K. If they were interested in commercializing the game I suspect they would be able to make a lot more.