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Elden Ring Steam Deck Bug Can Leave Game Inoperable

Steam Deck users looking forward to the release of Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree tomorrow, June 21, 2024, may grow a tad concerned to realize the latest patch 1.12 includes a bug which can make the entire game inoperable.

FromSoftware revealed on X/Twitter it is working to fix an issue on Valve’s handheld PC where inputs stop working if the game is left inactive for more than five minutes. Unfortunately for Steam Deck players, FromSoftware said “the date and time of the hotfix will be announced separately,” suggesting it won’t be released in time for Shadow of the Erdtree launching.

“A Steam Deck related issue has been identified and a hotfix is being worked on,” FromSoftware said. “Leaving your Steam Deck inactive for more than five minutes may stop the game from accepting inputs. We apologize for inconvenience.”

Leaving your Steam Deck inactive for more than five minutes may stop the game from accepting inputs.

Thankfully the issue isn’t too game-breaking as long as players don’t step away from Elden Ring for more than a few minutes, but it will likely lead to a few frustrating moments for those who forget or aren’t aware of the problem.

A hard reset will presumably be required in these instances, but doing so for Elden Ring, as is the case with previous FromSoftware games such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne, poses a chance of save data corruption.

The odds of this happening are slim, but FromSoftware games insist players officially quit from the main menu instead of closing them outright. Not doing so, regardless of whether the player quits intentionally, their system crashes, or a bug like this Steam Deck issue stop them from logging out proper, poses a slight risk of data corruption.

Elden Ring’s patch 1.12 doesn’t include any other know issues, and FromSoftware will hopefully have this Steam Deck bug addressed sooner rather than later. The update otherwise includes new hairstyles, additional quality of life improvements, and the ability to summon Spirit Steed (horse) Torrent in the final fight, to the glee of many Elden Ring players.

The changes come just in time for Shadow of the Erdtree, but accessing the DLC isn’t as simple as installing the update and selecting it on a menu. Players must instead tick off a handful of obscure feats beforehand, including beating an optional boss.

IGN’s guide on how to prepare for the Shadow of Erdtree is fully up to date with everything you need, however, and make sure to check out our Elden Ring interactive map to ensure you’re not missing any important collectibles.

You can also catch up on IGN’s “How Long to Beat” for Shadow of the Erdtree and kill some time ahead of its imminent release byf reading our extensive 10/10 review.

“Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree raises the bar for single player expansions,” we said. “It takes everything that made the base game such a landmark RPG, condenses it into a relatively compact 20-25 hour campaign, and provides fantastic new challenges for heavily invested fans to chew on.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Microsoft Says Xbox Is Going Big at Gamescom 2024, While Sony and Nintendo Skip the Show

Microsoft has announced plans to return to gamescom this year with what it says is its biggest booth ever at the German games show.

Gamescom 2024, which runs from August 21-25, will see Xbox maker Microsoft showcase the likes of Obsidian’s Avowed, Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76, and Blizzard’s Diablo 4 expansion Vessel of Hatred and World of Warcraft expansion The War Within. It is Blizzard’s first gamescom following Microsoft’s $69 billion aquisition of Activision Blizzard last year.

Here’s the list of games Microsoft said it’s bringing to gamescom 2024 (this list is not comprehensive — expect more announcements at the show):

Sony and Nintendo, meanwhile, have confirmed they are skipping gamescom 2024. Sony told Eurogamer it has no plans for the show, and Nintendo confirmed the same back in April.

While Sony’s decision was expected (it hasn’t attended gamescom in years), Nintendo’s decision came as something of a surprise given it has turned up at gamescom in recent years. But given the Nintendo Switch successor console isn’t due out until 2025, a quieter 2024 makes sense.

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo outlined what to expect from PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch respectively during each company’s summer showcase: Sony’s got Astro Bot, Lego Horizon Adventures, and Concord due out in 2024; Microsoft has Avowed, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, and World of Warcraft: The War Within; and Nintendo has The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, and, creeping into early 2025, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.

On the hardware front, Microsoft has a new series of upgrades for both the Xbox Series X and S, including an all-digital Series X, all of which will be available this holiday. Sony is reportedly set to release a PS5 Pro model later this year, too.

Microsoft’s confirmed attendance at gamescom 2024 comes amid deep cuts at its gaming business, which have seen some 1,900 staff let go and the closure of Redfall developer Arkane Austin and Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, among other studios. Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who will no-doubt be at gamescom 2024 to show off the company’s games, told IGN recently: “I have to run a sustainable business inside the company and grow, and that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The Banana Game May Not Be a Scam But It’s Still Not Worth Your Time

Quick, you only have a few seconds to answer this question: What games are on Steam’s top 10 concurrent players of all time list? PUBG, yes. Counter-Strike 2, absolutely. Elden Ring, for sure. But if you answered Banana, you would… also be correct. The bizarre indie game that consists of repeatedly clicking on a picture of a banana (and nothing else) has become a sensation, at least in sheer number of alleged players. But if you were thinking of giving it a download and checking it out for yourself, let me give you some advice: don’t bother.

Banana is not the first game of its kind; the virtually identical game Egg was released earlier this year in February, and new contender Cats showed up after Banana’s release back in April. All of these games follow the same format of mindlessly clicking on an image for no discernible reason other than to raise the click counter and to be gifted a Steam item on timed intervals. In Banana’s case, players are rewarded for their clicks with various digital bananas every three hours, many of which are common, but some of which are quite rare. Players can also outright purchase bananas from the game’s store, but the bananas available are rotated out at the developers’ discretion.

And therein lies the real purpose of Banana: to artificially generate an economy for useless digital “goods.” Now, to be clear, Banana is not technically a scam. The game is free-to-play and it doesn’t push you to monetize it if you don’t want to. You can download it, spend a few minutes satisfying your fruit-clicking urges, and then uninstall it without spending a cent. Unlike many free-to-play games that find ways to restrict or annoy players enough so they spend cash to alleviate the friction, Banana doesn’t really have any gameplay to restrict. You click and the number goes up. The number isn’t even saved across play sessions, meaning it resets every time you turn off the game. The digital bananas you receive are dropped right into your Steam account, and seemingly serve no purpose beyond the pure euphoria of possessing them and the opportunity to sell bananas to other players.

We’ve already covered how the economics of Banana work in regards to the percentages the devs and Valve take from each banana transaction, which is now up in the tens of thousands per day. Although the developers have been adamant that Banana is not a scam, and even went through the trouble of ejecting developer Theselions (their Steam name) because of their previous association with a Bitcoin scam, they don’t seem to have the highest view of their own product. In an interview with Polygon, developer Hery referred to Banana as a “stupid game,” and that the reason it’s become popular is because it’s a “legal infinite money glitch. Users make money out of a free game while selling free virtual items.”

Banana is exactly what it looks like: a clicking simulator designed to waste your time and maybe convince you to try selling the fruits of your labor

It’s a telling admission, but it does nothing to mitigate the underlying issue with exactly this type of “game.” Banana and other games like it skirt by on technicalities and appeals to the absurdity of their premise while still raking in plenty of money for their creators, and Valve does nothing to deal with such shovelware on its platform because it too stands to make a tidy profit from the endeavor. That Hery also admitted during the Polygon interview that a significant chunk of Banana’s player base is made up of bots doesn’t help either. Even though Hery claims the team has contacted Valve for help addressing the bot issue, they have still inflated the game’s player count to give it more visibility on Steam in the short term, enticing even more curious players to give it a try and perhaps be part of a transaction or two.

That attention has caused many to ask just what exactly is going on here, including us at IGN. YouTuber Jauwn did a deep dive into Banana, including a look at the game’s code. Luckily, there’s no indication that it’s malware, using your computer to mine cryptocurrency, or any other obviously deceptive scheme. Banana is exactly what it looks like: a clicking simulator designed to waste your time and maybe convince you to try selling the fruits of your labor on the store for some cash. But why is it so popular? Once you subtract the bots, are there really that many players who are feeling enough banana-fever to maintain an entire economy around virtual fruits?

As with other recent digital get-rich-quick schemes like NFTs or niche cryptocurrencies, Banana is trying to tap into a meme market. It’s a speculator bubble fueled by misguided hopefuls who think the bananas might be worth something someday, irony-poisoned edgelords who know it won’t but like being in on the joke, and bots that flood the market to make the whole enterprise seem more popular than it actually is. Sure, buying and selling bananas is less harmful than blockchain-based transactions because it isn’t burning down the planet to generate these digital tokens, but anyone looking to add bananas to their investment portfolio should reconsider.

The devs have absolute control over how the bananas are distributed, and there’s no way to regulate the digital economy they’ve cultivated. The more players that dive into Banana, the less likely it is that you’ll manage to snatch one of the coveted rare bananas that have sold for a decent sum. What’s far more likely than us all becoming part of a banana republic is that the game’s 15 minutes of fame will soon wind down and anyone who’s spent real money collecting rare bananas in the hopes of flipping them will be left holding the bag. So heed my warning: do not give in to the call of Banana. Don’t reward low effort nonsense like this with your valuable time, because when you start clicking the banana, the only game really being played is on you.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.

Elden Ring Finally Lets You Summon Torrent Against the Elden Beast and Fans Are Buzzing

Spoiler Warning: This article features mild spoilers for the final boss of Elden Ring.

On the eve of Elden Ring’s expansion Shadow of the Erdtree launching, FromSoftware has finally allowed players to use Spirit Steed (horse) Torrent against the infamous Elden Beast boss, addressing one of the few complaints players have about the beloved role-playing game.

The first chunky Elden Ring patch in a long time was release today, June 20, 2024, with a wealth of features, but perhaps none more exciting than the ability to summon Torrent for the game’s final fight.

The Elden Beast isn’t a particularly difficult fight but many fans did find it quite frustrating due to the arena’s colossal size and the boss essentially teleporting around the arena. A lot of time is therefore spent running after the Elden Beast instead of actually fighting it.

“I just saw someone beat the Elden Beast with a cheat engine enabling the use of your horse Torrent during the fight, and this was absolutely the way the boss was meant to be played,” wrote X/Twitter user @velvetbnuuy earlier in June. “This is one of the biggest design fumbles in an otherwise amazing game I can think of.”

As the fan notes, many mods have been created to allow Elden Ring players to summon Torrent in the fight, and YouTube videos showcasing the modded battle in action have thousands of views.

“I got tired of Chase the Boss Simulator 2022 towards the end,” wrote GameFAQs user OnyxZephyr333. “I’m here to fight you. Not watch my character run for a minute while you do a move then roll, teleport, or slither away.”

X/Twitter user @ZullieTheWitch asked their followers how Torrent would affect the fight, and of 27,771 responses, 66.2% said Torrent would improve things. Needless to say, many players wanted FromSoftware to allow Torrent in the fight, and the Elden Ring community has erupted in excitement about today’s change.

“Oh my god, thank you Miyazaki,” said one Reddit user, referencing Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki. “We can finally summon Torrent for the Elden Beast.” “Torrent buddy we made it,” said someone in the replies.

The update makes this and several other changes ahead of Shadow of the Erdtree’s launch tomorrow, June 21. Just like previous FromSoftware games Dark Souls and Bloodborne, however, accessing the DLC isn’t as simple as selecting it on a menu, as players must tick off a handful of obscure feats beforehand, including beating an optional boss.

IGN’s guide on how to prepare for the Shadow of Erdtree is fully up to date with everything you need, however, and make sure to check out our Elden Ring interactive map to ensure you’re not missing any important collectibles.

You can also catch up on IGN’s “How Long to Beat” for Shadow of the Erdtree and kill some time ahead of its imminent release by reading our extensive 10/10 review.

“Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree raises the bar for single player expansions,” we said. “It takes everything that made the base game such a landmark RPG, condenses it into a relatively compact 20-25 hour campaign, and provides fantastic new challenges for heavily invested fans to chew on.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Danganronpa Writer Took Out a Loan to Fund New Game The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

Danganronpa writer Kazutaka Kodaka’s new studio had to take out a loan to fund its next big game, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, which was revealed during June 2024’s Nintendo Direct.

Speaking to Famitsu and translated by Automaton, Kodaka said his team at Too Kyo Games was “risking their lives” for the game due to financial and mental pressure, though a publishing partner has since been secured in Aniplex.

Development started off rocky, however, after a deal with an initial publisher fell through after “numerous difficulties.” Work on The Hundred Line was then restarted but what began as an “indie scale game” quickly grew and demanded more funds.

“We decided to take the plunge and take out a loan,” Kodaka said, a move which is unusual for game developers who are traditionally funded by publishers. Aniplex eventually came through for Too Kyo Games though, and Media Vision and Jet Studio joined as co-developers.

“It was tough both financially and mentally, but I may never have another opportunity to put this much effort into a project,” Kodaka said.

The Hundred Line puts fans of Danganronpa in a similar setting: a hellish high school full of despair. They take on the role of Takumi Sumino, who lived an unremarkable life until he was forced to transfer to the Last Defense Academy.

We decided to take the plunge and take out a loan.

Players must protect the school from mysterious enemies known as School Invaders for 100 days through tactical role-playing combat and delve into the “enigmatic truth of the school” alongside 15 of his companions, each looking to reclaim their lost everyday lives.

The Nintendo Direct was full of other major games too, with a brand new Zelda announced alongside Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood. The show ended with the re-reveal of Metroid Prime 4, now subtitled Beyond, seven years after it was first announced. Read about every announcement, big and small, in our Everything Announced article.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Fallout Creator Tim Cain Reveals Involvement in Cancelation of Original Fallout 3

Fallout creator Tim Cain has for the first time revealed his role in the cancelation of Interplay’s Van Buren, the codename for what was intended to be the original Fallout 3.

Van Buren was in development at Interplay-owned Black Isle Studios in the early 2000s, but was canceled amid significant financial problems at the company.

Cain, who worked on the first two, much-loved Fallout games in the mid-to late 90s before leaving Interplay to start a new studio called Troika Games, has now revealed the role he played in the cancelation of Van Buren as part of his ongoing YouTube series focused on video game development.

As we walked out he basically explained any answer over six months was going to result in him having to cancel it.

Cain revealed that in the middle of 2003, an unnamed Interplay vice president asked him to play the Van Buren prototype, saying: “I don’t think they can get it done, so I’m just going to cancel it. But if you look over it and give me an estimate there’s a chance I wouldn’t cancel it.”

Cain said he played the prototype for two hours and asked the development team a number of questions before delivering his verdict to the vice president.

“I said, ‘I’m convinced in 18 months you could have a really good game shipped.’ And he said, ‘huh, could it be done any faster?’ And I was like, ‘oh, shoot, I’ve said too long.’ I said, ‘well, even if you did a death march crunch I don’t think you could do it faster than 12, and then you’d be shipping something that was unbalanced and buggy, and the team would be destroyed. So I don’t recommend that.’

“And he said, ‘ok, thanks.’ As we walked out he basically explained any answer over six months was going to result in him having to cancel it, meaning the answer I just gave got the game canceled. But he was going to cancel it anyway. He thought it couldn’t be done in six months, and I just confirmed that to him.”

According to Cain, the cancelation of Van Buren was, ultimately, about money. Interplay’s dire financial situation meant it simply did not have enough cash to fund more than six months of further development, so Van Buren was canceled.

Interplay went on to close down Black Isle Studios and cut its entire staff. The company released Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel in 2004 for the Xbox and PlayStation 2, but it was not enough. That same year, Interplay announced a licensing deal with The Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda for future Fallout games, and in 2007, Interplay sold the Fallout IP to Bethesda outright, and the rest is history.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Elden Ring Update 1.12 Adds New Features Ahead of Shadow of the Erdtree Launch

FromSoftware is rolling out a new update for Elden Ring that adds a number of features ahead of the release of DLC Shadow of the Erdtree.

Following server maintenance today, June 20, patch 1.12 deploys to prepare Elden Ring for the release of Shadow of the Erdtree on June 21. This acts as an update to the Elden Ring base game and a day one patch for the hotly anticipated expansion.

Patch 1.12 adds new inventory features, including marking newly obtained items with a “!“, and a new tab called Recent Items so players can quickly review recently obtained items.

Elsewhere, there are new Summoning Pool features, such as active Summoning Pools now carrying over to NG+, and individual Summoning Pools enabled / disabled in the newly added Map Functions Menu. Only active Summoning Pools will be selected when using the Small Golden Effigy, FromSoftware said.

And five new hairstyles are added to the game. They can be selected during character creation using the Clouded Mirror Stand or using Rennala’s Rebirth feature.

Shadow of the Erdtree is set to add a wealth of new content to the beloved role-playing game. Just like previous FromSoftware games Dark Souls and Bloodborne, however, accessing the DLC isn’t as simple as selecting it on a menu, as players must tick off a handful of obscure feats beforehand, including beating an optional boss. Thankfully, IGN has a guide on how to prepare for the Shadow of Erdtree DLC if you need to scramble ahead of the expansion’s release. And make sure to check out our Elden Ring interactive map to ensure you’re not missing any important collectibles.

IGN’s Shadow of the Erdtree review returned a 10/10. We said: “Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree raises the bar for single-player DLC expansions. It takes everything that made the base game such a landmark RPG, condenses it into a relatively compact 20-25 hour campaign, and provides fantastic new challenges for heavily invested fans to chew on.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Diamond Select’s Fearsome Venom Statue Completes the Spider-Man 2 Trinity

Diamond Select Toys has been hard at work immortalizing the epic showdown between Peter Parker, Miles Morales and Venom as seen in 2023’s Spider-Man 2 game. IGN previously debuted DST’s Peter Parker statue and Miles Morales statue, and now we can cap off the trinity with the exclusive reveal of Venom himself.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at DST’s Marvel Gamerverse Gallery Diorama Spider-Man 2 Venom PVC Statue:

The Marvel Gamerverse Gallery Diorama Spider-Man 2 Venom PVC Statue measures 13 inches tall and 12 inches wide, featuring the iconic villain in all his oozy, slimy glory. The statue is designed to form a larger diorama display with the aforementioned Spider-Man statues.

This statue was designed by Nelson X. Asencio and sculpted by John Cleary.

The Marvel Gamerverse Gallery Diorama Spider-Man 2 Venom PVC Statue is priced at $85.00 and is slated for release in Q1 2025. Preorders will open on the Diamond Select website and other retailers on Friday, June 21.

You’ll also be able to preorder this epic piece through the IGN Store when it becomes available. For now, why not check out the other Marvel collectibles available on the IGN Store?

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Save 50% Off the Xbox Elite Controller Complete Component Pack

Microsoft Store is discounting its official Xbox Complete Component Pack for 2nd gen Xbox Elite Series 2 Core wireless controllers. Right now you can get it for only $30, 50% off the $60 MSRP. At this price point, they’re even less expensive than the 3rd party knockoff models you’ll find on Amazon.

Xbox Elite Controller Complete Component Pack for $30

The main difference between the 2nd generation Xbox Elite Core controller and the original Xbox Elite controller (besides the color scheme) is the accessories included. The original controller comes with the component pack, which includes extra sets of paddles, thumbsticks, and D-pad for more customizability, as well as a travel case. The newer gen Xbox controller doesn’t include these, which is why it is sold at an MSRP of $140 instead of $190. By getting this component pack, you’re basically upgrading your 2nd gen controller to 1st gen, and saving quite a bit of money to get there.

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 for $95.99

If you don’t yet have a Xbox Elite controller, this is the best deal available right now. Target recently dropped the price of the professional-grade 2nd gen Xbox Series X Elite Series 2 Core Wireless Controller in Red/Black to $95.99. Note that Target RedCard members get an extra 5% discount. Signing up is free.

The Xbox Elite Series 2 Core wireless controller is physically the same controller as the older generation Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, which retails for a much higher $190 MSRP. The Elite Series 2 Core controller retains all the integrated pro gaming features like adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wrap-around rubberized grip, and shorter hair trigger locks. It’s a much superior option to the standard Xbox Core controller that the current gen consoles come with.

Xbox Core Controllers for $46.95

If you’re looking for something more stock, Walmart has dropped the prices on official Microsoft Xbox Series X Wireless Controllers to under $50. This includes the Arctic Camo White color released last year as well as Carbon Black, Robot White, Shock Blue, and Pulse Red.

Check out the best Xbox deals today for more discounts on Xbox accessories.

Banana Clicking Game Not a Scam, Developer Insists

The developers of Banana, a game about clicking a Banana which has usurped Baldur’s Gate 3 and Hogwarts Legacy on Steam’s most-popular games of all time list, have insisted it’s not a scam.

A post on Discord from one of the three listed developers and co-owner of Banana, aestheticspartan, said the team had parted ways with one of its members after it emerged they were accused of being involved in a Steam scam previously. This team member has denied any involvement in a scam, saying instead an influx of money obtained through the Steam marketplace was the result of a bug.

Despite their involvement, “there is no scamming or scam going on,” aestheticspartan insisted. Banana’s gameplay literally involves clicking a banana repeatedly, but its main draw is in its dropping of Steam items which can be sold on the official marketplace. Banana gives out different bananas as its item, and clicking on the game once in a while nets players a couple per day.

Most of these items are listed for just a few cents each, meaning the players of Banana are often spending and gaining very little at a time, but this likely doesn’t matter to Steam owner Valve or the development team.

That’s because both get a cut of every marketplace sale. Valve takes 5%, to a minimum of $0.01, and the developer takes another small percentage, the exact total of which is unclear in this case, but likely follows the same conventions as Valve’s to a minimum of $0.01.

Buyers and sellers don’t see the same numbers on Steam’s community marketplace, as the seller chooses the amount and the buyer sees the total of that number plus fees. This would explain why no banana item is available for less than $0.03 — they’re likely listed at $0.01, but another $0.01 for Valve and $0.01 for the developer adds up to the $0.03 total.

These tiny numbers add up though. Using the most basic example, the plain Banana item (compared to the banana that looks like a Panda or any other obscure design), we can see how much the developer and Valve potentially make from Banana.

Steam itself features an hour-by-hour breakdown of how many of these items are sold. Using the latest full day example, June 18, 2024, an eye-watering total of 1,993,669 of this single item were sold.

Valve therefore potentially earned a total of $19,936.69 from this single Banana’s sales over a 24-hour period, a number more than likely earned by the developer, too. This standard drop is one of 81 items being sold on Banana’s community marketplace.

This is the most common item, however, so it’s being sold in larger quantities than other items. The Rainbow Banana, for example, is currently listed for around $0.75 but generally sells for less than 50 per hour instead of the thousands of the most common Banana. The most expensive item, the Crypticnana, of which only 25 exist, has been sold four times for values of more than $1,000 since June 17.

While this is a colossal price compared to the most basic Banana for the buyer and seller, Valve’s 5% means it only nets $50 per $1,000 sold on these. It’s therefore the $0.01 minimum policy affecting large quantities of low-selling items that make Valve and the developer the most money. A total of 14 items are listed at the minimum $0.03 amount, and each one sells thousands per hour.

Developer aestheticspartan’s insistence Banana isn’t a scam is therefore likely legitimate, but it’s also almost certainly earning the development team tens of thousands of dollars a day, if not more. As for why it’s so popular, developer team member Hery told Polygon Banana is a real-life “infinite money glitch.” “I do believe that the reason why it mostly caught on is because it’s a legal infinite money glitch,” Hery said. “Users make money out of a free game while selling free virtual items.”

They also admitted Banana had a bot problem early on, with only around one third of all concurrents being actual players. Whether or not that figure has changed since Banana blew up remains to be seen, though Hery said the developement team has contacted Valve for help with the issue.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.