About This Game Costs 200 Dollars
This Game Costs 200 Dollars is a joke title from solo developer Michael Major, released on PC via Steam. The game functions as a sequel to his previous release, This Game Costs 10 Dollars, and delivers a bare-bones top-down experience that makes no secret of its nature. The store description calls it "the swindle to end all swindles," and the entire premise rests on the audacity of pricing a minimal game at Steam's $200 ceiling. Major, who was 18 at the time of release, built it as a lark — he assumed the price alone would deter buyers. Instead, it attracted a coordinated wave of purchases that followed a very specific geographic and behavioral pattern.
Quick Facts — This Game Costs 200 Dollars
| Developer | Michael Major |
|---|---|
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Genre | Joke, Simplistic, Top-down |
| Price | $200 |
The game itself offers little in the way of traditional gameplay. Players who stuck around averaged roughly ten minutes of playtime, which aligns with a product never meant to be played seriously. Its value proposition was never entertainment; it was the price tag itself. That price tag, sitting at the absolute maximum Steam permits, turned the listing into a magnet for anyone looking to maximize a metric tied to purchase amount — whether that metric was Steam Points, refund volume, or something less visible.
$1.3M to $2K: The Refund Storm
Steam’s refund policy is generous by design. You can return any game within two weeks of purchase as long as you’ve logged under two hours. The rule’s purpose is to shield buyers from buggy releases and deceptive ads, yet it also opens a loophole. In this particular case, 6,705 of the 6,717 copies sold landed in
"They might be buying it to return it instantly so they can get some kind of points for the highest amount possible without actually paying $200."
Michael Major
Steam Points translate into profile cosmetics, animated avatars, and other vanity items. A $200 purchase yields a disproportionately large Points payout compared to a standard $60 or $70 title. If the goal was to farm Points without net spend, buying and refunding the most expensive game on the platform is an efficient loop — provided the refund clears before the payment actually settles. The ten-minute average playtime among non-refunded sessions suggests even those who didn't refund barely engaged. This wasn't a player base discovering a hidden gem; it was a transaction pattern.
Major also raised a darker possibility in comments to WMUR-TV: "I'm not joking, I have heard of expensive games on Steam being used for money laundering. I have no idea. I could be on a 'hit list' right now." While there's no public evidence linking this specific case to illicit finance, the pattern — high-value purchases from a single region, immediate refunds, minimal playtime — matches behaviors that anti-fraud researchers have flagged in digital storefronts. Valve has not commented publicly on this title or the sales pattern. For a teenager watching his sales dashboard spike to seven figures, the experience was whiplash: he told the outlet he "almost died" when he saw the $1.3 million figure, adding he would have "quit his job" if the money were real.
"I'm not joking, I have heard of expensive games on Steam being used for money laundering. I have no idea. I could be on a 'hit list' right now."
Michael Major, to WMUR-TV
Teen's $200 Gamble Backfires After $1.3M Windfall
The episode exposes a structural tension in Steam's ecosystem. The refund policy is a consumer protection triumph — it forces developers to ship functional products and gives buyers recourse when they don't. But it also creates an arbitrage opportunity when paired with a loyalty system that rewards gross spend rather than net spend. Steam Points are granted at purchase, not after the refund window closes. That means a coordinated group can inflate their Points balances by cycling high-priced titles through the refund pipeline, effectively printing cosmetic currency at no cost. Valve has historically adjusted systems when abuse scales — the Steam Trading Card changes in 2018 were a direct response to bot farms idling games for card drops. A similar correction may come for Points if this pattern spreads.
For the average player, the takeaway is simpler: a joke game at the price ceiling became a flashpoint for system-gaming, not a breakthrough in indie monetization. Major's net $2,045 is roughly what a modestly successful $10 indie title might earn in its first week — except he got there via a $1.3 million mirage. The broader indie community watched a parallel story unfold the same week: another solo developer, Virginia, broke down on stream after her tower defense game Tangy TD earned $31,942 in thirty hours. That moment went viral for the right reasons — genuine demand, real players, sustainable revenue. Major's story went viral for the opposite reason: a loophole that made a teenager briefly think he'd retired, then showed him the refund line item by line item.
Key Takeaways
- This Game Costs 200 Dollars generated $1,345,650 in gross revenue from 6,717 sales at Steam's maximum price point
- 6,705 purchases originated in China; only four sold in the United States
- Average playtime was approximately 10 minutes; most buyers refunded within Steam's 14-day, two-hour window
- Net revenue after refunds: $2,045
- Developer Michael Major speculated buyers farmed Steam Points or potentially used the title for money laundering
Valve has not announced changes to Steam Points or refund eligibility in response to this incident. The This Game Costs 200 Dollars store page remains live, still priced at $200, still described as the swindle to end all swindles. Major has not released a follow-up — though given the attention, a This Game Costs 300 Dollars would be impossible on the platform anyway. The ceiling held. The loophole, for now, remains open.
