CS:GO’s already lucrative skin market has been sent into overdrive ahead of CS2 launch

Faithful and returning CS:GO players alike are rushing to the marketplace and driving prices of skins and cases into the stratosphere ahead of the much-anticipated Counter-Strike 2 update, and there doesn’t look to be an end in sight.

The latest skins gold rush was sparked after Valve’s announcement in March 2023 that inventories wouldn’t be affected by the CS2 update. It was then compounded again by the news there would be a visual upgrade that alters how some skins appear in-game. Demand for items has reached new heights, and players are hungry to get their hands on the lot, from stickers right through to the most lucrative of knives.

Case prices are of particular note; formerly worth just a few cents on Steam, the cheapest—the Snakebite Case—now sells for over a dollar. Most cases sit between the two to five-dollar mark, with the majority seeing a 40 percent increase in March and April.

Over 39 million cases were opened in March 2023—11 million more than the previous month—and over 13 million more than the same month in 2022, according to a report from CSGO Case Tracker. In all, players spent over $100 million USD across the 30-day period in case openings alone. Crucially, a bulk of cases are no longer obtainable in the game, meaning as the supply of cases falls, prices rise even further.

Whilst not unexpected, players are still baffled by the spike, with some returning after time away from the game to inventories worth thousands of dollars more in cases alone.

Stickers are also a major trade and market commodity in Counter-Strike, with many eagerly awaiting the BLAST.tv Paris Major sticker capsule. This will be the final Major capsule for the Global Offensive cycle. Historically, team and player signature stickers have fluctuated heavily as time has passed, but with May’s Major the last in the franchise, players are already eager to purchase pieces of Counter-Strike history.

Related: All CS:GO teams qualified for BLAST Paris Major

In one example, PGL Antwerp Legends Sticker Capsules have shot to $2.35 USD in the space of four months after originally selling as low as 20 cents in Oct. 2022. Likewise for the PGL Stockholm Major Capsule, where units have more than doubled in price in less than a month.

CS2’s planned visual update has also driven heavy interest in cases and skins with particular patterns. Through an upgrade in lighting in Source 2 and numerous gun model changes, a selection of skins will reflect light in unique and different ways, adding depth and detail that was otherwise missing in CS:GO.

This month, more people are playing CS:GO than ever before, with the player base growing to a record 1.5 million concurrent users as many await access to CS2’s test. Many fans are also partaking in mass case openings via live stream.

It remains to be seen when the market will cool, with many players believing prices may rise up until after the launch of CS2, which is expected to land in summer 2023.