The CS2 skin economy continues to move beyond simple cosmetics. It now acts more like a digital market. By 2026, trading behaviour is expected to follow logic closer to investing than impulse buying.

Félix “xQc” Lengyel has joined a growing list of figures accusing Counter-Strike 2 professional Jacky “Stewie2K” Yip of involvement in an alleged skin scam. The accusations follow a series of claims ...

Counter-Strike players turned cosmetic skins into a bona fide secondary market over the past decade, but a recent update pushed by its developer, Valve, appears to have brought it crashing down.

The game 'Counter-Strike 2' has been updated, and items that were previously only available through 'gacha' can now be obtained through trading. This has caused the value of some items that were ...

Twitch and Kick streamer Felix "xQc" has expressed his opinion that Counter-Strike 2 knives and rare skins are "luxury goods" meant for rich people. On October 23, 2025, X user @nyrbhimself posted a ...

The Counter-Strike 2 community has been thrown into turmoil after a fateful update from Valve sent shockwaves through Steam’s marketplace, causing the value of skins (purchased with real money) to ...

The update, first noticed by the team at Eurogamer, made what seems like a small change. Now, Counter-Strike 2 players can trade five regular Covert skins for a new, rarer knife or glove cosmetic. On ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Mike Stubbs covers esports, competitive games and the creator economy. Valve released a new patch for Counter-Strike 2 overnight ...

Valve has released an update for Counter-Strike 2, its online competitive shooter, that has apparently tanked the skins market. Outside of shooting each other on de_dust2, Counter-Strike players have ...

Valve has taken a sledgehammer to the Counter Strike 2 skins market in a "small update", which allows players to trade five regular Covert skins for a fairly rare cosmetic for your knives and gloves.

Counter-Strike 2 has always stood apart from other shooters due to its skin market, which was essentially gambling on skins, trading skins, and collecting skins on a third-party marketplace. Some ...

The Counter-Strike 2 virtual marketplace experienced one of its most dramatic collapses in recent memory, shedding nearly $2 billion in value within hours of Valve releasing a controversial update.