 | Digital Release | PC April 03, 2023 – Steam (Cancelled) April 04, 2023 – itch.io |
| Delisting | March 22, 2023 – Steam | |
| Developer | MSCHF Product Studio | |
| Publisher | MSCHF Product Studio | |
| Available On | Digital PC (itch.io) Retail PC |
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| Links | Tax Heaven 3000 homepage SteamDB page Steam Store page [Archive] |
Delisting
Tax Heaven 3000 was delisted on Steam on March 22nd, 2023 just over a week before its expected release date. MSCHF co-founder Daniel Greenberg explained to Inverse, “Out of nowhere it was de-verified and removed from the platform without explanation earlier today. That’s all we know.” Over concerns about providing a video game — and a company named mischief — players personal and financial information, Greenberg added that “the Tax Heaven 3000 application does not connect to the internet. […] In some sense, it is probably safer than most big box tax software.”
Although many outlets requested a comment from Valve on the situation, no explanation has since been provided. However, it’s safe to assume that the decision was made to distance the platform’s purveyor from being associated with an application that might even potentially be harvesting personally identifiable information and financial details.
About the Game
UPDATE: STEAM IS DEPLATFORMING TH3K. DIRECT DOWNLOAD VIA TAXHEAVEN3000.COM ON APRIL 4. Maybe TurboTax sent a check, we don’t know.
Hi there! Iris here~
Tax Heaven 3000 is a visual novel dating game that actually prepares your 2022 federal income tax return!
It’s always been a dream of mine to meet that special someone…and file their tax return.
Join me and we’ll search for deductions while searching for love!
Be careful! We’re not alone. Most wealthy countries make tax filing free, if the burden of preparation is even passed along to individuals at all. But, corporate tax filing services are (by dint of extensive lobbying) predatory, parasitic bottlenecks that deliberately complicate the tax filing process in order to make it unnavigable by ordinary people.
And it works! The villainous corporation that controls the government from the shadows is a sadly mundane reality. It’s the most boring industry imaginable.
Videogames are, at the end of the day, pieces of software–ontologically akin to Microsoft Word. Tax Heaven 3000 simply makes the fiction the point. For some reason the game-to-real-life interface has tended to remain the purview of corporate metaverse fictions. Tax Heaven 3000 is a dongle that adapts from a visual novel to the IRS.
Come on, let’s get started! I can already tell I’m going to like you ♥
And remember, if you prepare your taxes in the game, you prepare your taxes in real life.
Suitable for single filers without dependents. Tax Heaven 3000 assists a player in creating a self-prepared United States federal income tax return.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for submitting this game to the site