- 18-year-old developer Michael Major released “This Game Costs $200” on Steam this year.
- The title made over $1 million in revenue after selling thousands of copies in China.
- This revenue did not make it to the developer since nearly everyone refunded the game almost instantly.
Steam is home to a huge audience and many of the world’s biggest games, standing tall as one of PC gaming’s biggest core pillars. However, Valve’s storefront has also become the platform of choice for many indie developers.
Because practically anybody can publish a game on Steam, this can sometimes lead to interesting stories coming out from developers using the platform. One such instance has recently come to light, with a teenager almost becoming a millionaire after publishing a joke game on the platform.
Why it matters: Many games have exploded in popularity on Steam suddenly, but none have gone through quite the wild ride that this particular title experienced on the platform.
18-year-old Michael Major published “This Game Costs $200” earlier this year for the price of, you guessed it, $200 on Steam.
Released as a joke, this title was meant to follow up on his previous game “This Game Costs $10” and aimed to target the maximum price point allowed on the platform. To Majors’ surprise, thousands of players were quick to buy the $200 title on Steam.
The game effectively made $1.3 million in no time, but effectively all buyers were just as quick to refund the title. According to the developer, most of the 6000+ purchases were made in China, with the buyers refunding This Game Costs $200 without even launching it in most cases.
I was this close. If that money was real, I’d quit my job.
When all was said and done, Michael Majors took home a total of $2000. Meanwhile, This Game Costs $2000 is still up for sale on Steam and can be purchased for the cost of nearly 3 full AAA titles or 2 copies of the much-anticipated GTA 6 and a third game on discount.
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[Senior News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than 5 years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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