Valve figured out a long time ago that people love Team Fortress 2 in-game items so much that they will play, or even buy, other games just to get them. Granting these items in Genuine quality when players participate in the cross promotions heightens the demand for these exclusives. Players have even been able to claim special items by completing objectives during special events in both Team Fortress 2 and other games all together. The newest trend that Valve is taking to the bank involves the Steam Store and players purchasing tangible goods with the promise of an in-game version along with it.

Baloonicorn

In December of 2011, Team Fortress 2 celebrated its second annual Australian Christmas with naughty and nice crates, many new items and A Smissmas Story comic. On the very first page of the comic, the cover of The Badlands Holiday Reader, a Christmas tree in the background is decorated with glass sphere bulbs. There is one ornament different from the rest—a small pink unicorn with a blue saddle. Fast forward more than six months later to the Pyromania update, and the Balloonicorn flew into our hearts as co-star of the Meet The Pyro short. Along with adding the item to the game, a blow-up version of the the item standing close to three feet tall became available for purchase for $29.99 in the Valve Store and on ThinkGeek.com. The store pages promised, “product is bundled with a physical TF2 coupon code that unlocks Genuine Balloonicorn in-game.” Once word of the Genuine quality item hit the trading community, the inflatable Balloonicorn sold out at both outlets. Because the limited and cut off supply, the asking price in the Mannconomy shot up to around $60 worth of items in trade. Some speculated that if the item were to come back in stock that it would not come with the Genuine code. Others sat and hoped this was not true. Their patience paid off when Baloonicorn’s triumphant return to ThinkGeek did indeed include the sought after code. Shortly after it was again available in the Valve Store again with the same promised code. The asking price for a Genuine Baloonicorn has fallen due to this. Currently one would only need to pony up around $20 worth items to trade for one. At time of writing this, more than 1,200 Baloonicorn codes have been activated, meaning Valve has sold $36,000 worth of inflatable pink unicorn balloons.

Archimedes

Valve’s second offering of a real-world item with promise of an in-game equivalent was the Medic’s pet dove Archimedes. This time Archimedes was in plush form. During the first day of the Mann vs. Machine a new Valve Store item page leaked showing the details of the bloody dove’s plush version as he appeared in the Meet The Medic short. The page promised it was to include a code for an in-game Archimedes. The page disappeared shortly after being found but went live along with the details of Mann vs. Machine: day three. Many Medic enthusiasts and TF2 item collectors jumped on an order as soon as it was available. While the sales page did not specifically state the included code unlocked a Genuine Archimedes, this did turn out to be the case. Less than three weeks later the plush sold out. As of today, more than 1,100 Archimedes codes have been turned in. Being exclusive to the Valve Store, and at $24.99 a pop, Valve can claim more than $27,000 in sales from a stuffed bird.

Donkey Courier

In the most recent chapter of selling dolls that include in game items, Valve is offering both inflatable and plush versions of the Donkey Courier from DOTA 2. Both items include a code for a DOTA 2 in-game Zonkey Courier, a mix between a Zebra and a Donkey that carries items between players and their bases in-game. The Donkey Couriers are available now at the Valve Store but will also be available for purchase at Weta booths during events such as the International DOTA 2 Championships going on now in Seattle, Washington. DOTA 2 has an in-game economy similar to TF2, and if the user base gets hooked like the traders in TF2’s Mannconomy have, Valve has another money printing machine to add to their collection.

Sum it up

Between the two TF2 items alone Valve has racked up more than $60,000 in sales and counting. Sure there is a bit of overhead for production, processing, and ThinkGeek no doubt took a cut of the Baloonicorns sold on their site, but these are inflatable and plush animals we are talking about here. Valve would never have sold as many of these without the in-game codes. Will the codes work as well with the eSport super franchise DOTA 2 and the Donkey Couriers? As with most things, time will tell, and if it does work out we can look forward to many new physical items coming with in-game codes for exclusive content in our favorite games on Steam.