Life is full of minor mishaps, some fortunate, some not, and often unplanned. A recent, entirely unintentional event: Pico Park: Classic Edition, the charming collaborative puzzle-platformer many viewers watched on Twitch during COVID lockdowns, is now permanently available at no cost.
Background: Pico Park: Classic Edition originally launched nearly a decade ago, in 2016. Despite supporting up to ten simultaneous players, it was initially an offline-only experience. In August, Tecopark, the developers, announced plans to introduce online multiplayer support. This update was released in September, and the developers initially considered charging a small fee for this enhanced functionality, planning to keep it free for a week.
However, Steam’s system has limitations: it apparently doesn’t permit developers to repeatedly switch a game between paid and free status. This resulted in this message from Tecopark: “I intended to revert to a paid model after implementing online support. Unfortunately, I forgot that once a game is made free, it cannot be switched back to paid! 🙂 If you enjoy this complimentary version, please consider trying other entries in the series (Pico Park, Pico Park 2).”
It seems there’s little that can be done now. The straightforward announcement of the game’s permanent free status is somewhat amusing. What else could be done? It’s unlikely that Pico Park: Classic Edition generated significant revenue for Tecopark anyway, especially considering the popularity of Pico Park (2021).
Some might wonder, “Why not simply offer a 100% discount?” The answer is, Steam restricts the maximum discount to 90%. It’s an odd constraint imposed by Steam, limiting developers’ control over their games on the platform.
In conclusion, unless you strictly curate your Steam library (which is fine), adding this enjoyable little game is a free win.