When Games Developers Sell Their Own Blood On eBay

  Video games get a bad rap in the press at times, as we know. Still, if you’re experienced in the gametastic world, you’ll have seen that they can do a lot of good too. Last weekend, the Games Done Quick speedrunning event made $1.3 million for Doctors Without Borders, which isn’t something to bitch about at all.  

You wouldn’t have thought that exploiting the hell out of Super Mario Bros. 3, so as to rescue the princess in four minutes, would be the best way to raise money for charity. But the industry’s known for making cash in unconventional ways. And utterly batshit ones, in this case.

You might know Richard Garriott as the creator of the iconic Ultima series. You might not. It doesn’t matter too much, because from today we’ll all know him as the nutbag who tried to sell his own blood on eBay to fund his new game.

Shroud of the Avatar is Garriott’s upcoming RPG, currently doing the crowdfunding circuit. To raise funds, and the project’s profile, he and the game’s director ‘both had blood drawn in order to fill a dozen reliquaries, crafted by artist Steve Brudniak,’ HardOCP reports. Which, of course, were put up for eBay auction. Sometimes the great ideas are just right in front of you.

Now, apparently, eBay have a strict Human Remains and Body Parts Policy. This is actually a thing. The reliquaries were taken down, because blood isn’t a cool thing to be selling on auction sites. They’re still available on the game’s official site, though, I’m told, so don’t all rush at once for that.