The already extremely lucrative skin market for Valve went one better in March and brought the company a real windfall.
Once again, skin trading in CS:GO is attracting attention with record numbers and making Gabe Newell grin. We’ll tell you how keys and skins in the Counter-Strike 2 hype have given Valve a real windfall
Record AK-47
The skin market in CS:GO has become more important than the actual game for many, and has led to some users focusing exclusively on trading the sometimes extremely rare cosmetic enhancements.
As recently as April 16, zipelCS closed the second largest skin deal in CS:GO history, collecting nearly half a million euros for an AK-47 including four stickers and a Karambit knife.
The AK sold by zipelCS is one of the most expensive ever sold over the digital counter and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future.
I just completed the second largest trade in CS history! Sold these two on behalf of @Luksusbums
– 387 P1 in well-worn
The combined sale was +$500,000 pic.twitter.com/EbLyF2NaHq
– zipeL🇩🇰 (@zipelCS) April 16, 2023
The deal should not only make zipelCS happy, but also put a smile on the faces of the people in charge at Valve, after all, records like this always bring news around their FPS gem Counter-Strike.
Money printing machine
As if that wasn’t enough good news for Valve, an incredible 39.5 million cases were opened in March alone. Already in the previous month of February, a whopping 27.7 million cases were opened, which was already an extreme increase from January (21.6 million)
39.5 million CS:GO cases have been opened last month at a cost of €2.35 per case
€92,825,000 directly to @counterstrike
that’s an all-time high by almost double pic.twitter.com/pbFbS3E9ZU
– ohnePixel (@ohnePixel) April 2, 2023
As is known, each case needs a key to open it, which has to be bought from Valve for 2.35 €. Converted, the company has earned about 92,825,000 € only with the sale of keys and that only in March.
Probably driven by the beta of Counter-Strike 2 and the announcement that skins will be included in the CS:GO successor, Valve’s money printing machine skin market is currently running at full speed.
