It’s been just over two years since Panic introduced its throwback handheld gaming system, Playdate, which has more in common with a Game Boy than a Steam Deck. That discovery may be why thieves dumped over $400,000 worth of stolen Playdate handhelds in front of a random restaurant with little fanfare.
Panic’s official account on X revealed the incident and shared photos of the recovered handhelds. According to Panic, the shipment was delivered at the wrong address by FedEx before thieves scooped them up and later left them behind.
Did you hear the story about how $400k worth of Playdates were misdelivered by FedEx to a construction site near our warehouse? And then someone just… stole them? Seriously.
Well, guess what got hastily dumped at a random restaurant this morning?
Welcome back stolen Playdates! pic.twitter.com/LseJKp9sOO
— Playdate (@playdate) May 30, 2024
In a follow-up message, Panic said that more details would likely be shared in an upcoming episode of the Playdate Podcast. Panic also jokingly asked “Can we sell these as a limited edition? Playdate Hot.” As promotional campaigns go, that might work.