An already expensive and rare skin pattern in CS:GO—the Blue Gem—could be skyrocketing in popularity once CS2 releases.
Valve made a silently upgrade to all Blue Gem skins in CS2 after the June 6 update, according to community findings. Now the Blue Gem template looks brighter than ever, which will make all the Blue Gem skins “vibrant blue”, according to Krieke, who’s a notable Blue Gem collector listed on a website dedicated to this particular skin pattern.
The Blue Gem is a special pattern for the Case Hardened skins found in CS:GO and CS2, which is available for weapons like the AK-47 and Five-Seven, but most notably for all knives. Many think the Blue Gem label is given depending on the weapon or knife’s wear—Factory New to Battle-Scarred—, but it’s actually determined by the pattern seed.
“The more blue on the knife/weapon, the more valuable is the skin,” CS:GO Blue Gem reads. “When blue is all over the place, the skin is knighted as Blue Gem.”
Related: What is the most expensive CS:GO knife skin?
After the June 6 update for CS2, which most notably replaced Dust II for Mirage and implemented interchangeable weapon loadouts, the difference between the Blue Gem skins in CS:GO and CS2 is night and day, as you can see below in the screenshots posted by skin collector Quinn on Twitter.
The screenshot on the left is how the Blue Gem looks like in CS2, and the screenshot on the right is how the Blue Gem looks like in CS:GO.
It’s unclear how this brightness update will affect the price of Blue Gem skins heading to the official release of CS2 this summer, but it’s looking like the owners of Blue Gem skins have been truly blessed by Valve.
