Valve has added restrictions to the marketplace in CS:GO, preventing traders from using newly-purchased case keys as currency.
Starting today with the introduction of patch 1.37.2.2, container keys can no longer leave the account they were originally purchased on. Pre-existing keys, however, are unaffected by this change.
“In the past, most key trades we observed were between legitimate customers,” Valve said. “However, worldwide fraud networks have recently shifted to using CS:GO keys to liquidate their gains. At this point, nearly all key purchases that end up being traded or sold on the marketplace are believed to be fraud-sourced.”
Third-party sites have been exploiting key trading for some time now, scamming unsuspected victims and laundering money. Keys were perfect for this due to their fixed price on the marketplace and the fact that players have easy access to them.
This new change should help prevent any illegal activity and take skin trading back to its roots. Third-party sites will have to find another way to try to exploit the market.
For most CS:GO players, this will change practically nothing. But for those with a keen interest in skin collecting, there could be small repercussions. Players will simply no longer be able to trade keys on the market.
“Unfortunately this change will impact some legitimate users, but combating fraud is something we continue to prioritize across Steam and our products,” Valve said.
