Counter-Strike 2 weapon skin becomes most expensive video game item ever at $1,000,000-Kenneth Andersen-Entertainment – Metro

What £780,000 can get you in Counter-Strike 2 (Twitter)

A super rare AK-47 skin has sold for over £700,000 and has becomes the most expensive, publicly sold cosmetic in video game history.

Like most free-to-play games, Counter-Strike 2 is well known for its many weapon cosmetics and some fans go to ridiculous lengths trying to get their hands on the rarest ones – as YouTuber Anomaly recently demonstrated by spending £18,000 opening 6,500 cases.

The demand for the rarest cosmetics, which have a very low chance of being unlocked in loot boxes, creates astronomically high prices for a lot of the skins on private markets, even though a lot of them are quite ugly.

As a result, a rare AK-47 skin has now sold for over $1 million (£780,000), making it the most expensive, publicly sold skin ever.

The skin is a factory new AK-47 StatTrak Blue Gem, with the sought-after pattern 661, which first made an appearance on Chinese Counter-Strike marketplace Buff back in January.

At the time, it was estimated to be worth between £630,000-£800,000 by YouTuber OhnePixel, whose content heavily revolves around weapons skins.

The purchase makes this the most expensive skin to be announced publicly, though the seller wants to remain anonymous and not reveal the exact price, according to Jake Lucky on Twitter.

Other ridiculously expensive skins that have sold in the recent past include a £215,000 (£170,000) M4A4 Howl and a $400,000 (£310,000) AK-47 Case Hardened skin, both from last year.

This digital AK-47 skin sold for £310,000 (Reddit)

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, however, as CSGOSkins.gg, a Counter-Strike 2 marketplace, values a factory new AWP Souvenir Dragon Lore up to $480,000 (£375,000), and the best condition Pandora’s Box Sports Gloves are valued at $64,000 (£50,000).

There are a lot of factors that determine the price of Counter-Strike 2 skins, such as aesthetics, whether it looks battle-damaged or not, how difficult they are to get in loot boxes, and how often the weapon is used by fans.

Certain random patterns are more popular than others but Valve recently introduced a new feature that lets fans rent a bundle of cosmetics for one week in exchange for a paid-for skins.

It’s unclear how it will affect how fans obtain weapons skins though, as it could reduce the amount of loot boxes each fan buys, if they can rent the skins instead, or if it will see more fans buy fewer weapon cases.

Not everyone gets it (Twitter)

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