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Steam demo's AI costs hit $1,000 a day, forcing loan

Original: Free Steam demo runs up $1,000 daily AI bill and forces devs to take out bank loan Easy Fox were surprised by the number

The developers behind Easy Fox, a free Steam demo, were surprised by the number of players who tried it, and by the bill that followed. Its AI features cost roughly $1,000 a day to run, far beyond what the small studio expected, and the team had to take out a bank loan to cover the expenses. The case highlights how costly generative AI features can become when a free product unexpectedly goes viral.

Why now: A free demo unexpectedly went viral and its AI costs spiraled, forcing the developers into debt, which resonates with other studios weighing AI features.

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Evidence

• Free Steam demo runs up $1,000 daily AI bill and forces devs to take out bank loan Easy Fox were surprised by the number of users and didn't expect that the demo's popularity would cause its AI expenses to go that high. https://www. tomshardware.com/video-games/p… · techwire@gamefan.net · 1

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