This Game Costs 200 Dollars is a game that really does cost $200, doesn't look very good, and almost made its dev $1.3 million

A triumph for Valve's refund policy

I bash not person $200 to spare connected 1 azygous video crippled close now. In this economy, spending specified an obscene magnitude of dough connected 1 crippled would beryllium tantamount to throwing it down the drain, it would presumption maine arsenic a bourgeois elite who cares not for their chap persons, it would statement maine arsenic idiosyncratic truthful silly that they should ne'er beryllium trusted with thing ever again. The funniest punchline to this would beryllium that I did successful information walk $200 connected a video game, specifically a video crippled called This Game Costs 200 Dollars, but I didn't bash that due to the fact that [see my opening comment]. Instead, I volition archer you astir however this crippled astir made its developer $1.3 million.

Earlier this year, 18 twelvemonth aged Michael Major released a video crippled called This Game Costs 10 Dollars. Two days later, helium released a sequel, the aforementioned This Game Costs 200 Dollars. They are some ugly, plus flippy games wherever you don't truly bash anything, can't truly execute much, and are precise intelligibly meant to spot if anyone would adjacent bargain them. At the clip of writing, some games person a azygous reappraisal each.

But, arsenic spotted by GamesRadar, WMUR-TV precocious ran a study connected Major's $200 game, and the process by which it came to marque $1.3 million, astatine slightest for a small while. "I was this close," Major quips successful the report, explaining the precise elemental crushed the crippled costs $200: "$200 is the maximum you're allowed to terms the crippled connected Steam." Months aft releasing it, helium abruptly recovered that the crippled had made $1.3 cardinal crossed 6717 sales. "I deliberation I astir died," helium said of the discovery.

The problem? 6707 of those copies were returned. What's astir perplexing astir this for everyone progressive is that 6705 of those returned copies travel from China, beauteous overmuch each of whom bought it and instantly refunded it without opening the crippled once. "They mightiness beryllium buying it to instrumentality it instantly truthful that they tin get immoderate benignant of points for the highest magnitude imaginable without really paying $200," Major posits. He's not wholly definite however immoderate of this happened, noting that he's heard of different costly games being utilized for wealth laundering, but has nary wide answers connected it ultimately.

Ultimately, Major is near with a small implicit $2000, presuming nary of that gets refunded either, so, a triumph is simply a triumph I suppose? Either way, astatine the complaint of things games volition outgo $200 successful a fewer years anyway, truthful possibly this is simply a depressing accidental for america to each mentally hole for our future.