I seem to recall a profile of the game and it&#x27;s creators that said it&#x27;s mostly by choice.<p>Found it: they were offered 300K just to license the name.<p><pre><code>  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.
</code></pre>
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2011&#x2F;07&#x2F;24&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;the-brilliance-of-dwarf-fortress.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2011&#x2F;07&#x2F;24&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;the-brilliance-of...</a>