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$400,000 worth of stolen Playdates turn up at a restaurant

The PlayDates were stolen back in March after being delivered to the wrong address.

Donovan Erskine

May 31, 2024 7:45 AM

Panic

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Back in March, $400,000 worth of Playdate handhelds vanished after they were delivered to a construction center instead of the manufacturer’s warehouse. The situation puzzled creator Panic and fans alike. After two months, the curious case of the stolen Playdates has ended.

Panic announced on X/Twitter yesterday that the stolen Playdates had been found at an unexpected location: outside of a restaurant. The post was accompanied with images of boxes of Playdates outside the restaurant, some placed against the wall and others scattered on the sidewalk.

Panic didn’t share how they found the Playdates or what made the thieves return them, but teased that the full story would come in an eventual podcast episode. Another reply from the company implies that some of the stolen Playdates were sold, which helped Panic trace them back to the source.

While we wait to hear the full story, Playdate’s website features the latest updates on games being released for the handheld console.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_