Wow. He could probably make some good money off this as is (if that was his goal), but I imagine if he added VR support, he's probably get money from everyone that bought a headset.
Projects like this always ended up being more fun for me to play that the vast majority of released polished games. Part of that is probably seeing updates happen that actually change the game. There's something visceral about that feed of updates, and feeling like you're there as something is being made. You can do a lot to engage a user base that way.
Projects like this can be great because you have direct contact with the creator. That might also be a huge distraction to the creator...
It doesn't take much patronage to support an artist. Dwarf Fortress is fan funded. This is probably the original manifesto that started kickstarter + patreon etc.
> Not sure if he has ever had plans to sell the game. I think it is mostly a fun (and epic) project to work on.
Which is perfectly fine! I was simply using money as an indicator of how polished and impressive it looks. Many of my favorite games have been free (roguelikes), and with impressive communities.
Mostly a fun side project but after my current gig, which hopefully will last no more than 4 years, I hope to kickstart or steam greenlight it in order to buy some artists and then release the game :)
Projects like this always ended up being more fun for me to play that the vast majority of released polished games. Part of that is probably seeing updates happen that actually change the game. There's something visceral about that feed of updates, and feeling like you're there as something is being made. You can do a lot to engage a user base that way.