Joke game priced at $200 sells thousands, nets developer $2045 after refunds
A teenage developer created a joke game priced at $200, which sold thousands of copies on Steam before a wave of refunds left the developer with only $2045 in revenue.
An 18-year-old independent developer, Michael Major, created a game titled 'This Game Costs 200 Dollars' as a prank, setting the price at the maximum allowed on Steam. Major stated he did not expect anyone to purchase the game due to its high cost.
The game's description on Steam even called it an "ultimate scam," with Major encouraging curious players to buy it. Surprisingly, thousands of players did, leading to a theoretical revenue of over $1.3 million.
However, the majority of these purchases were quickly refunded. According to Major's Steamworks sales report, out of 6,717 copies sold, 6,705 were refunded. Most players who requested refunds had played the game for an average of only 10 minutes.
Ultimately, Major's net earnings were reduced to $2045. He suspects players may have exploited Steam's refund policy, which allows returns within 14 days if playtime is under two hours, possibly to gain Steam reward points. Major also speculated about the possibility of the game being used for money laundering, a practice rumored to occur with high-priced games on the platform.