Extremely Rare Counter-Strike Skin Found After 10 Years, Could Be Worth $1 Million

17.01.2024 - 17:29 / gamerant.com / Dane Enerio / Rare

A unique Counter-Strike 2 weapon skin that apparently eluded gamers for around a decade has finally appeared online, and it could be worth up to $1 million. The skin is so rare that acquiring it through a loot box or trade has been considered a statistical anomaly.

Counter-Strike 2 inherited many things from its predecessor, the legendary Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Among these is the latter's vast collection of weapon skins that has spawned an entire economic system believed to be worth more than a billion dollars. A popular Counter-Strike skin is the Case Hardened design for the AK-47 that has been available since 2013. Despite being introduced around a decade ago, a specific version of the AK-47 Case Hardened skin has never been unboxed or crafted — until now.

A distinct StatTrak edition of the AK-47 Case Hardened skin with the rare 661 scar pattern has recently popped up on the Chinese Counter-Strike trading platform Buff. While there have already been multiple sightings of this particular skin in Minimal Wear condition, the Case Hardened AK-47 skin posted on Buff is the first to have the Factory New label. OhnePixel, the co-owner of the exchange Skinbid, estimated that the value of this one of a-kind skin hovered between $800,000 and $1 million. Other Counter-Strike weapon patterns have received absurdly high evaluations in the past, like the rare CS:GO AK-47 skin that sold for $400,000.

The fact that there is only a single Factory New StatTrak 661 pattern AK-47 Case Hardened skin out on the market right now is most likely the biggest reason why it is estimated to cost as much as $1 million. CS2 streamer Arrow said that there is a 1 in 20,460,000 chance of obtaining this exact skin. Meanwhile, collectors website CSGO Blue Gem claimed that a person would need to sell their soul to the devil to get the Factory New StatTrak 661 pattern AK-47 Case Hardened skin through a case or trade as achieving that was considered a statistical anomaly. Much like in CS:GO, people can acquire CS2 skins and cosmetics via in-game cases.

CS2's reveal in March 2023 triggered a spike in CS:GO skin case unboxings as community members jumped on the chance to collect patterns before the migration to Valve's newer shooter. Many decided to use the skins they unlocked, while others, understandably, planned to sell them.

CS:GO weapon skin prices went up following Valve's announcement of CS2, while loot boxes that used to sell for close to nothing sold for way higher prices. Thanks to Counter-Strike 2's much more advanced Source 2 engine, many CS:GO cosmetics that were transferred over to the newer game ended up looking much better.

An upgrade to 2012's CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2 is Valve's definitive multiplayer first-person