On a plinth within the pantheon of the Steam gods—surrounded by gaming giants like Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Apex Legends, and Elden Ring Nightreign—tappeth the standard Bongo Cat. On the time of writing, it is presently the fifth most-played sport on Steam.
So that you’d assume its creators can be raking within the moolah, proper? Mistaken. In a current interview with Eurogamer, Marcel Zurawka, the CEO of Irox Video games, says it is mainly making no money in any respect.
“Some individuals mentioned, ‘Oh you are now wealthy.’ That is bullshit. I did not make it for the cash in any respect.” To show it, Zurawka breaks it down for the positioning, stating that Bongo Cat—which has over 170,000 individuals ‘taking part in’ it proper now—makes Irox Video games, on common, round $3000 a month.
“It isn’t even paying a developer for us. In the event you simply take a look at the numbers, it is truly shedding us cash in the long run.” What’s extra, Zurawka reveals, he is fairly sure that of these 170,000 individuals, “roughly 50 %” are bots.
A quick interlude to elucidate what Bongo Cat is appears so as: It is a foolish little desktop pet, first created by artist StrayRogue and animated by DitzyFlama earlier than Zurawka and co picked it up for his or her meme sport.
You place it in your monitor and it tip-taps away as you kind. You may as well earn hats for Bongo Cat. That is the whole loop. As to why there are bots farming it, it is mainly the identical deal as Banana: There are basically-worthless Steam market objects people are buying and selling for tuppences.
Zurawka’s adamant he does not wish to cost for it—and appears completely glad that there is the tiniest of holes poked by his studio’s pockets. Why? As a result of any leakage is absolute chump change in the case of the free advertising and marketing he is getting: “It is an insane advertising and marketing software … Persons are like, ‘What’s your subsequent undertaking?'”
I am a cussed individual, so I hesitate to show Zurawka’s level for him. Nonetheless, I am deeply relieved to find that Irox Video games’ subsequent undertaking does truly look fairly neat. It is a vibes-based exploration sport known as Oku the place you play as a monk, wandering round and writing haiku, with a visible model harking back to Ōkami.
It is form of a monkey’s paw for Zurawka, who—echoing Aggro Crab’s bemusement as a random jam undertaking outsold video games it labored fairly a bit tougher on—feels as if you should not need to have a breakout, Bongo or no, to market one thing: “It seems like, ‘Hey, earlier than, we knocked on 50 doorways; now, they’re coming to us. It’s kind of disappointing to see that it takes you to having to achieve success to achieve success.”
That is to not say that Zurawka’s simply utilizing it as a cynical advertising and marketing software. He hints at a top-secret replace to Eurogamer with little or no in the way in which of particulars coming sooner or later: And I, for one, welcome our new feline overlords.
