Joke Game Priced at 200 Dollars Rakes In $1.3 Million on Steam Before Thousands of Players Refund It
An 18-year-old indie developer named Michael Major created a viral sensation on Steam with This Game Costs 200 Dollars, a deliberately overpriced joke game that briefly generated nearly $1.3 million in sales before thousands of players refunded it.
Released on January 30 as a sequel to his earlier This Game Costs 10 Dollars, the title is priced at $200—the maximum amount allowed on Steam’s platform. Despite the absurdly high price, the game’s tongue-in-cheek marketing as a “psychological comedic experience” and explicit acknowledgment that it’s “the swindle to end all swindles” proved irresistible to curious players. Major’s marketing explicitly dared players to purchase it, claiming he had “worked very hard” on the project and “deserved” the money.
The stunt generated an estimated $1.3 to $1.4 million in revenue before refunds flooded in, highlighting both the viral appeal of the concept and the power of Steam’s generous refund policy, which allows purchases to be reversed within 14 days or 2 hours of playtime. After the refund wave subsided, Major was left with approximately $2,000—still a respectable payday for a teenager’s gag project released under the studio name Stolen Valor Studios.
The incident sparked discussion about Steam’s monetization policies and refund system, demonstrating how high-priced joke games can capture attention while simultaneously illustrating how easily players can reverse such purchases.
Sources
- Joke Game Priced at 200 Dollars Rakes In $1.3 Million on Steam Before Thousands of Players Refund It
- ‘I was this close’: Teenage dev’s $200 joke game made nearly $1.4 million on Steam before the refunds came flooding in
- Steam meme game made in days almost turns teen into a millionaire
- 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