An 18-year-old from New Hampshire launched a sport known as This Game Costs $200 earlier this yr as a joke–but lots of people purchased it. The sport generated $1.3 million in gross sales, however creator Michael Main did not get wherever close to that massive of a payday.
He informed WMUR that he set the worth at $200 as a result of that was the utmost a sport might be listed for on Steam, and he anticipated nobody to purchase it. When he noticed income of $1.3 million, he “virtually died,” Main mentioned. To make sure, there are video games on Steam that value greater than $200–there is a $1,000 game, for example.
The developer solely walked away with $2,000, nonetheless, partially due to mass refunds. Main additionally mentioned it is curious that almost all of gross sales got here from China.
“I am not joking. I’ve heard of high-priced video games on Steam getting used for cash laundering. I do not know. I might be on a success checklist proper now,” he mentioned.
Steam gross sales information shared within the video confirmed that the sport bought 6,717 items, however 6,707 folks bought refunds, that means 99.9% of gross sales had been refunded. The lifetime gross income for This Recreation Prices $200 was $1.38 million, however Main walked away with $2,045 after all of the refunds.
The Steam web page for This Recreation Prices $200 describes it as “the swindle to finish all swindles.”
“This sport can also be a psychological expertise, the place I attempt to persuade you that this sport actually does value 200 {dollars},” reads a line from its description.
The sport takes place on this planet of Schizopia and has gamers strolling round a map stuffed with circumstances of beer and packs of cigarettes.
The sport has one review, from somebody who performed for 0.6 hours and mentioned they advocate it. They mentioned they made numerous dangerous selections of their life, like consuming a rest room water-soaked sandwich straight from the bowl. However spending $200 on This Recreation Prices $200 was not the worst determination they ever made, they mentioned.
This Recreation Prices $200 is a sequel to This Recreation Prices $10.
