LogInSpooky price.
In case you have forgotten, back in January, Game Developer ProX got their five minutes of fame by releasing The Hidden and Unknown, a semi-autobiographical visual novel with an unusual price tag. Upon its release, the game was, and still is, by the way, priced at nearly two thousand dollars, making it the most expensive video game on Steam at that time.
The Hidden and Unknown's extraordinary price, however, was more of a clever marketing tactic than a genuine representation of the game's value. As the game provided less than two hours of gameplay, players could easily request a refund within Steam's policy, effectively recouping their $2K investment.
The Hidden and Unknown's cost, however, seems like spare change in comparison to the price tag we'd like to highlight today. Meet Spooky Men, a Phasmophobia-style online 1-8 player cooperative survival-horror game that takes the concept of extravagant pricing to a whole new level with a staggering $1 million cost.
First spotted by Game Rant, Spooky Men is an early-access title that was released by Bloody Bear on May 9, 2023. Interestingly, when it was first launched, the game had a much more reasonable price, even dropping to as low as $0.59 during one of Steam Sales, according to SteamDB. Recently, however, the devs changed the title's price to a whopping $1,000,000, presumably to attract attention with this peculiar tactic.
As unusual as it may seem, the strategy seems to be working. Prior to the price hike, the game had mostly negative reviews, but the situation turned around after the massive increase. The overall reception transformed from negative to mixed, with more recent user ratings showing positivity, albeit mostly in the form of joke reviews.
Moreover, users on Reddit also revealed that Bloody Bear has been giving away Spooky Men codes through Discord, allowing some lucky individuals to experience the game despite its exorbitant price tag.
Last week, the developers also issued a brief statement, announcing that they are planning to release "a BIG update for the game very soon with new game modes, new mechanics, and improvements." While it hasn't been outright confirmed by the team, it seems that the $1 million pricing stunt was a strategic move to capture attention and generate interest among a wider audience before the release of said update.
You can learn more about Spooky Men here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Threads, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.