A live service game is a hit or miss. Developers that have hit success are usually very successful—and vice versa. But have you ever wondered how much developers make from selling skins and loot boxes in live service games? The latest report from a Counter-Strike 2 case tracker has made eye-opening revelations about players’ spending habits in the game.
It will amaze you—or not so much—to know that Valve made $980 million from selling skins and keys to cases. According to the Counter-Strike 2 tracker, over 400 million cases were unlocked in 2023, the most popular being the Dreams & Nightmares Case which was released on January 20, 2022. It was opened 50.5 million times and earned Valve $126.3 million in key sales.
The law of demand and supply has also taken effect on the price of cases. Information gleaned from the Counter-Strike 2 tracker shows that the price of cases jumped by a whopping 178% on average. However, the case that saw the most astronomical jump was the Danger Zone Case with a 492% increase. In absolute numbers, CS:GO Weapon Case increased by $25, which was the largest digit jump.
The highest number of daily unboxing was recorded on April 25, 2023, with 6.6 million cases unboxed. On a deeper dive, it was discovered that the increase in the number of unboxings occurred a day after the release of the Anubis Collection Package, a free dropping that didn’t require a key to unbox.
By the end of April 2023, over 50 million unboxings had been done. There was another surge in unboxings following the release of Counter-Strike 2 on September 27. The surge was reflected in the game’s October 2023 statistics.
The Counter-Strike 2 tracker was so thorough with tracking unboxings up to daily levels. The report showed that Wednesday was the most popular day of the week to open Counter-Strike 2 cases in 2023. Monday and Tuesday saw the least number of unboxings.
A rare Counter-Strike 2 weapon skin found after a decade
A rare Counter-Strike skin recently surfaced online. It is believed to have eluded gamers for around a decade. The rarity of the skin is so severe that finding it through a loot box or trade was almost statistically impossible. CS streamer, Arrow, estimated the odds were 1 in 20,460,000 chance.
Although released last year, Counter-Strike 2 inherited several elements from its predecessor, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This includes the vast collection of weapon skins which is now worth over a billion dollars.
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The Case Hardened skin of the AK-47 has been around since 2013. However, there is a specific version of the skin that has never been crafted or unboxed until recently. The unique StatTrak version of the AK-47 Case Hardened skin with the distinct 661 scar pattern recently surfaced on the Chinese Counter-Strike platform Buff.
The previous other times that the skin appeared online, it was in Minimal Wear condition. However, what made the one posted on Buff so unique was that it was the first time that the Case Hardened AK-47 skin was sighted with the Factory New label. It was estimated that the price of the skin stood anywhere between $800,000 and $1 million.
This makes it one of the most valued Counter-Strike skins. In the past, some rare Counter-Strike skins have been absurdly valued. For example, a rare Counter-Strike AK-47 skin once sold for $400,000. The absurd valuation of the StatTrak 661 pattern AK-47 Case Hardened skin is unarguable because it is the single known Factory New version of the skin that is currently available.
How often do you purchase cases in Counter-Strike 2? Can you estimate how much you have spent on in-game purchases in the last 12 months? We would love to hear from you. Use the comment box below.
