A physical copy of Fortnite just sold for $42,500 at auction

[midian182]

WTF?! A physical copy of Fortnite, the free-to-play game that became a cultural phenomenon, has just sold for a stunning $42,500. That seems like a comical amount, but the buyer will likely point to the 10 A++ rating the boxed edition has received from video game grading company WATA – the highest score it can award.

The Xbox One physical copy of Fortnite reached $42.5K on the Heritage Auctions website. The rare physical release comes with the Storm Master weapon pack and gives players access to the original Save the World mode.

In addition to the rarity – only a limited number of physical copies were ever produced – the massive winning bid comes from the fact that the game is still in its original sealed pack and has a 10 A++ grade from WATA.

The 10 signifies that the box is "virtually flawless," with no visible imperfections, dents, creases, color fading or deformation. The A++ refers to the grade of the factory seal. This top seal-grade means there are no holes or penetrations, no major tears, and only – if anything – possibly a few extremely light scuffs or microscopic mark(s), likely from normal manufacturing or handling.

Essentially, this is a perfect sealed copy as if it just came off the production line.

Published by Gearbox, this boxed version came out in 2017, just before Fortnite's popularity exploded and it became a household name. This physical game originally retailed for $60.

While the game went for 70,733% more than its original selling price, this isn't the most expensive game ever sold.

Punks, X-Men, Declarations, and some news...

🏆A NEW WORLD RECORD on Rally🏆

...w/ the $2,000,000 sale of our 1985 Super Mario Bros., marking the HIGHEST PRICE EVER PAID for a video game of any title.

Read more in todays New York Times (cc: @nytimes): https://t.co/mJzEcVMXuQ pic.twitter.com/segsfw6Jw9

--- Rally (@OnRallyRd) August 6, 2021

In August 2021, a sealed 1985 NES copy of Super Mario Bros. sold through a collectibles site to an anonymous buyer for $2 million. However, some critics argue that the sale may have been manipulated, or that links between the auction house and grading company raise questions about market-inflating practices. Most sources, including the Guiness Book of Records, still cite the $1.56 million sale of Super Mario 64 in July 2021 as the record holder.

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A physical copy of Fortnite just sold for $42,500 at auction

 

[PXAbstraction]

WATA's a scam (one of the few good videos Karl Jobst made before becoming a drama hack) and their ratings are meaningless to real collectors. Whoever bought that knows nothing and is just trying to play the speculation market. They'll likely fail and I'm glad.

 

[Win7user]

My goodness. What a colossal waste of good money!

 

[ScottSoapbox]

And people say rich people are out of touch.

 

[James321]

Proof that people are getting dumber.

 

[acrossthestars]

WATA's a scam (one of the few good videos Karl Jobst made before becoming a drama hack) and their ratings are meaningless to real collectors. Whoever bought that knows nothing and is just trying to play the speculation market. They'll likely fail and I'm glad.

I also saw that video from Karl Jobst and I'd put good money on this purported buyer being a WATA employee or subcontractor―the purpose of this grossly-inflated purchase being to both inflate the value of purchases provided by WATA (in an effort to legitimatize the validity of their rating system and make them the "Christies of Video Games") and their profile. It's easy to recoup the cost, if it's one of their own people making the purchase and money is simply changing hands on paper, similar to the way cryptocurrency scammers artificially inflate the value of sh*tcoins.