Fans can now rent certain weapon skins in return for unwanted ones in Counter-Strike 2, but fans criticise it as ‘insane’.
The purchasable loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2 is big business, to say the least. Not just for publisher Valve who sells the weapon cases – that give fans a chance to unlock new cosmetics – but for content creators too.
YouTuber Heyzeus recently revealed how he could’ve made £5.5 million to promote third party sites that sell weapon skins in Counter-Strike 2.
The loot box system has been in place for years but, without an explanation as to why, Valve is now giving fans the option to rent certain skins in return for the cosmetic they opened in the first place.
When unlocking a skin in a Kilowatt case (which costs around £5, including the key) you will be offered the chance to rent all 17 weapons in it, excluding the rare knife skin, for seven days.
That means you would have to trade the skin you unlocked in the case, that you paid for and permanently own, for the 17 temporary rental skins.
Once the seven days have passed the non-refundable rental skins will disappear from your inventory.
‘Don’t really get it. I’ve never seen the appeal but renting digital cosmetics is truly insane to me. But there’s a market for it I’m sure, so whatever,’ says Vixolus on ResetEra.
‘We have reached peak ‘You don’t own your games’,’ Ant 17 adds, referring to the increasing trend of buying games digitally over physical copies.
‘If someone finds more value in that, than keeping something they don’t want, I guess then more power to them,’ says TBM 24.
The new rental system gives fans another option if they don’t care for the skin they unlock, which in turn could encourage people to buy more cases.
The chances of unlocking one of the more desirable skins in any weapon case in Counter-Strike 2 is very low, so renting them could also reduce overall purchases. It’s such an unusual idea it’s not really clear how it’ll work out.
YouTuber Anomaly recently did an experiment where he spent over £18,000 opening 6,500 cases, showing just how difficult it is to unlock the rarest skins, concluding that ‘it should be illegal’.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
MORE : Counter-Strike cheating is ‘worst it’s ever been’ as top players quit game
MORE : Counter-Strike 2 bans 26,000 players as it struggles with cheating epidemic
MORE : Neymar calls Counter-Strike 2 ‘broken’ but fans think he’s not very good
Sign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they’re seen on the site.
Privacy Policy »
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
