2D Boy recently opened up World of Goo to a pay-what-you-want sale. Today the developer outlined the success of the promotion, and announced that they are extending it to October 25. Since the sale started, about 57,000 copies were sold, at an average price of $2.03. The blog explains that a large portion of the proceeds were lost to PayPal fees, and the company saw no money for transactions below 30 cents. The average was brought down by the vast majority of people paying a penny, which actually cost PayPal money for processing fees.
As a surprise, the sales of the game on other channels rose too. Steam sales rose 40% from the prior week, and WiiWare rose 9%. And in a survey published with purchase of the game, most people responded that they paid all they could afford right now. These results don't themselves prove anything, and 2D Boy notes that the effort was bolstered by coverage on the blogs. Another company attempting a similar payment plan might not see the same success if it doesn't get the same kind of attention; still, the results do seem to indicate that when offered to pay what they want, enough people will generally contribute an amount large enough to keep sales healthy.
