Banana - The 3rd Largest Game on Steam (Interview with a Dev)

Recently, a game called Banana exploded in popularity on Steam with its INSANE gameplay, where users click on a banana to increase the counter. However, the real power behind what has caused Banana to become the 3rd largest game on Steam, with 600,000 current players, is its unique drop system. Like CS2's drop system, Banana players will be rewarded with tradeable/marketable banana skins periodically throughout the day of playing.

While bananas are in the active drop pool, they usually hover around $0.03, the lowest price an item can be listed on the SCM. However, the unique situation about bananas is that every few weeks, bananas become discontinued and have a finite supply. This scarcity has caused some speculators to increase the prices of rare bananas to hundreds of dollars, even a few super rare bananas passing the $1000 mark. However, unlike CS2 skins, which have a function in their game, banana skins, in their current state, only have the purpose of being collected in people's Steam inventories.

I had the opportunity to interview one of Banana's developers, SkyLiner, about the phenomenon his team has created and their plans to turn the game and its items into something bigger!

Who is SkyLiner?

SkyLiner, whose real name is Alexandre, is from Portugal and is one of Banana's developers. He has +4,500 hours in CSGO/CS2 and is FaceIt level 6, with an inventory worth around $2,500 that includes an ST FN Kukri Knife Fade, an ST FT AK-47 Vulcan, ST WW AWP Asiimov, and a ST FT SSG 08 Blood in the Water.

Q: What was the inspiration for Banana?

From what I gathered, it was initially supposed to be a "silly banana clicker game" and a copy of the "Egg" game, which has a similar item drop system.

Q: Has Valve been in contact with the team due to its insane popularity on Steam?

SkyLiner shared that Valve has been in contact with Banana's development team and told them:

"You (the banana team) need to make something to prevent rewarding botters or make it more difficult, but at the same time make it more rewarding for normal users." - Valve

Q: Will there be any additional gameplay added?

"Yes, we're looking/making new features already, firstly to make some QoL updates, inventory & workshop additions." - SkyLiner

He also said, "Next we'll be adding some game features/update just like a regular clicker game." - SkyLiner

Q: Will scores ever be saved between sessions?

"Yes it will." - SkyLiner

Q: Will Banana ever have cases similar to CS2?

"We don't have any future plans to add them, maybe some trade-ups only." - SkyLiner

Q: I saw some people have concerns that, hypothetically, y'all could give yourselves infinite and/or rare bananas. Is there any public statement you'd like to make about some of these concerns?

"Yes, I would like to make a statement.

Theoretically, we could do that, and gain, ONLY, steam wallet, which wouldn't benefit us that much, only to buy steam games, and yes we'd still get 10% from each transaction, BUT, we do not do that because we think, firstly that we'd gain more by letting users/players make transactions on their own in the marketplace rather than us doing it, secondly we do not condone such activities from the staff and we are actively keeping track at the inventory and transactions of all the people with internal access to the steamworks.

Right now only me and spartan (another dev of Banana) have access to it, and we're both open to show our inventory history to anyone tbh." - SkyLiner

Conclusion

As "Banana" continues to captivate players with its simple yet addictive drop system, it has solidified its position as a Steam powerhouse, becoming the platform's third-largest game. With plans to introduce new features and enhancements, "Banana" is poised to keep its player base engaged and growing. SkyLiner and his team’s transparency and openness to community feedback highlight their deep respect for their player base.

However, it is important to note that the only reason a Banana skin has value is because people are willing to buy into this new meme craze. Be careful if you buy any item related to this game, as they could become worthless if the game loses popularity.