Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

2024: Ban the game in Tajikistan

On October 31, 2024, it became known that the Ministry of Culture of Tajikistan announced the ban on the popular computer games Grand Theft Auto and Counter-Strike in the country. The basis for the ban was the presence of elements of violence, murder and robbery in games. Read more here.

2023

Student of the only esports department in Russia won the Counter Strike tournament with a prize pool of $1 million

In August 2023, the European Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team G2 Esports won the prestigious Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 tournament, the prize fund of which amounted to $1 million. The team includes 18-year-old Russian Ilya Osipov, who plays under the nickname m0NESY. Read more here.

M.Video employee stole iPhone smartphones worth 2 million rubles to pay for skins for Counter-Strike

On March 30, 2023, it became known that the storekeeper M.Video stole 15 Apple iPhones from his employer for a total of approximately 2 million rubles. He needed the money to cover the loans he took out to buy skins in the multiplayer game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO). Read more here.

Gamer bought a gun skin in Counter Strike at the price of an apartment in Moscow

On March 13, 2023, a wealthy collector from China made a historic deal in the multiplayer online shooter Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO). A wealthy gamer purchased a skin for a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle for about $160 thousand (about 12.2 million rubles at the exchange rate as of March 17, 2023).

We are talking about a skin called Wild Lotus ("Wild Lotus"), which first appeared in the game in 2019. As noted by the Insider Gaming resource, at the time of sale, this virtual item had a state of "Straight from the factory." There are various assessments of the condition of skins in CS: GO, and the newer they are, the more valuable they will be. In this case, the skin was put up for sale in the most expensive version.

The gamer bought a gun skin in Counter Strike for about $160 thousand.

Usually the cost of the Wild Lotus for the AK-47 is about $10 thousand. But the Chinese collector got an exclusive version of the skin with four stickers from the Katowice 2014 esports tournament: each of them is estimated at about $40 thousand. As a result, the total cost of the sold Wild Lotus amounted to $160 thousand.

It is reported that the story of the unique skin will most likely not end there. The fact is that collectors often lend their expensive game items to famous professional gamers when they take to the stage of the grandest esports tournaments. Thanks to this, the cost of skins can increase significantly - especially if the participant of the competition takes one of the prizes.

It is also said that $160 thousand per skin for a Kalashnikov assault rifle in CS: GO is not a price limit. For example, Case Hardened is also on sale with four Titan Holo stickers (according to statistics, they are the most valuable stickers in the shooter): for this skin, the seller asks for about $400 thousand^[1]

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