A seemingly distinctive piece of Harmony memorabilia is being auctioned off at ShopGoodwill.com, a web based public sale web site operated by the Goodwill non-profit group, and with 5 days remaining the bidding has now surpassed an astronomical $3,000.
No, that isn’t a typo. That’s, as of 5:30 pm ET on Might 29, three thousand crisp American dollars. Simply take a look at it.
So, what is going on on right here? Harmony, you may recall, was an notorious flop: After hundreds of thousands of {dollars} spent, a value that included Sony’s acquisition of developer Firewalk Studios in 2023, the sport faceplanted exhausting and was taken offline simply two weeks later. Sony initially implied that it was a short lived scenario however put it down for good only a couple months later, and closed Firewalk outright. By any and all measures, it was a disaster.
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And the way did this presumably commemorative plaque find yourself on the public sale block at Goodwill? That’s fully unclear. The plaque was seemingly awarded to Chelsea Grace—that is the title on it, anyway—who’s credited because the outsourcing and co-development lead on Harmony, however the thriller is the way it went from their fingers to Goodwill. Did they donate it to boost funds for the orphanage (or, you realize, no matter)? Did they chuck it within the rubbish in an effort to overlook the entire thing ever occurred, and somebody picked it out? Did they… nicely, that is all I’ve obtained, actually.
I attempted reaching out to Grace to ask what’s occurring right here, however sadly the vendor is listed as “Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Area,” a reality I seen after I clicked the “ship” button and was instructed I would efficiently submitted a assist ticket request. Goodwill replied to say the plaque had been donated (and full factors to its ecommerce division for being so fast to reply) however past that, we’re left to invest.
However the bidding the Harmony plaque has attracted is notable all by itself. 41 bids have been submitted to date, and the worth now stands at $3001.
That quantity will seemingly go greater between now and the public sale’s shut, and whether or not the ultimate determine will truly be paid is an open query: Like most public sale websites, Goodwill’s phrases of service require the profitable bidder to honor their bid, however there’s nothing stopping them from merely saying “no” and disappearing into the digital ether. Given the pre-existing negativity surrounding Harmony, I shall be genuinely shocked if the winner simply ponies up and quietly makes off with their prize.
However not fully shocked. The plaque’s provenance is unknown and that makes it a roll of the cube to a sure extent, however assuming all is on the up-and-up it is a distinctive piece of videogame historical past, and Harmony’s spectacular crash-and-burn makes it extra fascinating and collectible, not much less. It is a bit like an Inverted Jenny in that regard: Issues didn’t go as deliberate, that is what got here out of it, and a small however devoted viewers is prepared to pay massive bucks to assert a chunk of what stays.
The public sale for the “Chelsea Grace Founding Harmony PS5 Freegunner Wall Hanging Plaque” runs till June 3. You higher imagine I will be retaining my eyes on it to see how this all finally ends up.
