Panic is sleuthing around Las Vegas after almost half a million dollars worth of Playdate hardware went missing this week.
Company co-founder Cabel Sasser broke the news during his talk at GDC 2024 and revealed the consoles have yet to be recovered.
He explained that four pallets worth of stock vanished after being sent out for delivery from the company’s new shipping center in Las Vegas. Two pallets have since been recovered, but the other two are nowhere to be found.
“We checked up on our inventory levels and it was a little bit short, and we contacted the shipping center and they’re like ‘yeah, weird. FedEx said they were delivered but we have no trace of them,'” said Sasser.
“‘But another thing that you might want to know about that’s weird, is that two weeks after your pallets went missing, two other pallets were delivered by FedEx to the construction site next door instead of our shipping warehouse.'”
Sasser explained the manufacturing center then sent over an “amazing picture” of two pallets filled with Playdates just sitting outside a half-built Circle K in north Las Vegas. Notably, he added that the person who signed for the two pallets that were recovered was the same person who signed for the two that are still missing.
“There’s a lot of research happening right now,” he added. “And keep in mind we know the serial numbers of every unit, so we know what serial numbers are missing. Seven of them have been registered to people who live in north Las Vegas.”
Panic is still investigating the matter and Sasser told the GDC audience he’d keep them posted—or perhaps not, depending on what advice he receives from legal.