The past year saw a dramatic rise in the popularity of Among Us, a Mafia-reminiscent social deduction game. The latest highlight of the game's influence came in the form of a chicken nugget shaped like an Among Us crewmate, which someone bought for almost $100,000.
The Among Us chicken nugget listing was posted on eBay by seller polizna in late May, and within just two days, the price had been driven up to almost $30,000. There's nothing particularly remarkable about it - save for the fact that it's shaped similarly to the silhouette of a crewmate, of course. Recent months have seen a price uptick for many expensive gaming collector’s items - Pokémon cards on eBay have become notorious for their high prices as of late - but the nugget is an oddity, even in the realm of pricey eBay auctions.
Even if the buyer has plans to somehow preserve the Among Us chicken nugget, $100,000 is a steep price to pay for a food item that could be bought in bulk for far less. Many people are baffled by the price the nugget garnered, and even more are wondering what exactly is the reasoning behind the price tag.
How The Among Us Chicken Nugget's Price Skyrocketed
Frankly, there's no straightforward answer as to how bidding escalated to nearly $100,000. When it was first posted, the Among Us nugget's price was set at just $0.99 - not all that unreasonable for one McDonald's chicken nugget. From there, things escalated drastically. There were more than 180 bids on the nugget, and with some of these jumping the price up by thousands of dollars at a time, it's easy to see how the whole auction snowballed. It's worth noting that the 184 bids were made by only 45 bidders, and the eBay bid history seems to indicate some individuals made multiple offers in a row. If so, it's possible this was done to deliberately drive the price up.
It's likely the bidding was further fueled by the official Among Us Twitter account, which made a post about the auction on June 1. The Xbox Twitter account also commented on it, drawing additional attention to the nugget.
Another factor could be the fact that the nugget is supposedly from a BTS Meal, a specialty McDonald's order inspired by the popular K-pop group. The initial poster of the auction also noted they would include some McDonald’s Szechuan sauce (made famous by Rick and Morty) with the nugget upon request. It's unclear whether the buyer will provide any additional updates on the nugget once it's shipped, but either way, the saga has captivated Among Us fans across the internet.