The tactical shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive may have been around for many years, but it is still very popular – and not just among gamers. Collectors are willing to pay huge amounts for cosmetic items.
What kind of skin is this? A player purchased a sought-after weapon skin on the Chinese version of Buff, a virtual marketplace for items from CS:GO and Badlanders. He paid 1,095,000 Yuan for the AK-47 skin “Wild Lotus,” which is roughly 150,000 Euros.
What’s the deal with the skins in CS:GO? Counter-Strike is primarily a tactical shooter, but it has also created a large market for cosmetic items. The skins come from loot boxes that can be earned. However, you still need a key to open them, which must be purchased.
The loot box system is controversial, as it resembles a form of gambling. Additionally, items can come from the box in varying conditions, affecting their value: “Battle-Scarred” lowers the price, while “Factory New” significantly increases it.
Really a lot of money for 4 stickers
What’s special about this skin? The “AK-47 Wild Lotus Skin” is already quite rare: there are said to be only about 3,000 copies in the world. The version purchased by the collector is also “Factory New,” which already gives it a value in the five-figure range.
This special piece is also adorned with 4 “Reason Holo” stickers. These are stickers from the eSports team Reason from the 2014 CS:GO Major in Katowice. Each piece is worth around 40,000 US dollars, resulting in a total value of $160,000 just for the stickers.
So the collector really got a good deal with his purchase. In the embedded tweet, you can see what the good piece looks like with the stickers.
What to do with all the money?
How is this being discussed? In fact, such prices are not uncommon for Counter-Strike skins. A little over 2 years ago, someone already paid nearly $150,000 for the then most expensive skin in the game, also an AK-47 skin.
The most expensive item in CS:GO even costs $1.5 million. Nevertheless, the “AK-47 Wild Lotus Skin” should make it into the top 10 of the most expensive purchases to date, thanks to the stickers (via dexerto). Therefore, there was a lively discussion on Twitter on the topic.
While some users are shocked by the amount and cannot understand why someone would spend so much money on colorful pixels, others disagree. In response to a comment that for that amount, one could also have a brand new Mercedes AMG, the reply is: “People who buy such things already have 10 AMGs, my friend” (via Twitter). What else should they spend all that money on?
At least: The flashy skin will likely not gather dust in a virtual safe: owners often lend their treasures to professional players so they can showcase them at major tournaments.
Also, the German Twitch streamer Marcel “MontanaBlack” Eris is currently opening loot boxes, hoping to hit the big jackpot, but unfortunately his new knife is not “Factory New”:
