Overview
- Michael Major, an 18-year-old developer, put This Game Costs $200 on Steam in January and months later reported 6,717 purchases with 6,707 refunds that drove lifetime gross sales to roughly $1.38 million.
- Most purchases reportedly originated from China and many refunds were issued without the game ever being opened, according to the sales data Major shared with WMUR-TV and gaming outlets.
- Steam lets users request refunds within a short play window and the platform caps list prices at $200, rules that make rapid buy-and-return cycles technically possible.
- After refunds and platform fees, Major says he received about $2,045 and he has suggested — without proof — that the pattern could reflect coordinated or illicit activity; Valve has not commented publicly.
- The episode adds to recent examples of extreme pricing and high refund volumes on digital storefronts and underscores the need for platform-side logs or investigations to explain unusually large, short-lived transactions.