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
3 min read
Summary
I do not have 200tospareononesinglevideogamerightnow.Inthiseconomy,spendingsuchanobsceneamountofdoughononegamewouldbetantamounttothrowingitdownthedrain,itwouldpositionmeasabourgeoiselitewhocaresnotfortheirfellowpersons,itwouldlabelmeassomeonesosillythattheyshouldneverbetrustedwithanythingeveragain.ThefunniestpunchlinetothiswouldbethatIdidinfactspend200 on a video game, specifically a video game called This Game Costs 200 Dollars, but I didn’t do that because [see my opening comment]. Instead, I will tell you about how this game almost made its developer 1.3million.Earlierthisyear,18yearoldMichaelMajorreleasedavideogamecalledThisGameCosts10Dollars.Twodayslater,hereleasedasequel,theaforementionedThisGameCosts200Dollars.Theyarebothugly,assetflippygameswhereyoudon′treallydoanything,can′treallyachievemuch,andareveryclearlymeanttoseeifanyonewouldevenbuythem.Atthetimeofwriting,bothgameshaveasinglerevieweach.[WatchonYouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlKPZxn7RF4)But,asspottedby[GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/i−almost−died−solo−dev−says−his−steam−game−made−usd1−3−million−but−99−percent−of−people−refunded−it−so−hes−only−getting−usd2−000/),WMUR−TVrecentlyranareportonMajor′s200 game, and the process by which it came to make 1.3million,atleastforalittlewhile."Iwasthisclose,"Majorquipsinthereport,explainingtheverysimplereasonthegamecosts200: “200isthemaximumyou′reallowedtopricethegameonSteam."Monthsafterreleasingit,hesuddenlyfoundthatthegamehadmade1.3 million across 6717 sales. “I think I almost died,” he said of the discovery.
The problem? 6707 of those copies were returned. What’s most perplexing about this for everyone involved is that 6705 of those returned copies come from China, pretty much all of whom bought it and immediately refunded it without opening the game once. “They might be buying it to return it instantly so that they can get some kind of points for the highest amount possible without actually paying 200,"Majorposits.He′snotentirelysurehowanyofthishappened,notingthathe′sheardofotherexpensivegamesbeingusedformoneylaundering,buthasnoclearanswersonitultimately.Ultimately,Majorisleftwithalittleover2000, presuming none of that gets refunded either, so, a win is a win I suppose? Either way, at the rate of things games will cost $200 in a few years anyway, so perhaps this is a depressing opportunity for us to all mentally prepare for our future.
