The most infamous and sought after weapon skin throughout the games extensive history that spans over a decade that has yet to be unboxed has finally been uncovered.
Valve makes an absolute killing when it comes to profiteering from in-game item money laundering, specifically from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive now turned Counter-Strike 2, since the inclusion of weapon skins into the game Valve have discovered a real life infinite money glitch.
Considering how Counter-Strike players are opening tens of millions of in-game weapon cases each and every month, with every single one of those crates requiring the purchase of an accompanying case key for $2.50 USD.
This doesn’t include additional revenue gathered from in-game items sold via Steam’s community market, with Valve taking a nice healthy dose of taxation from those selling their items for wallet funds, nor does it include the money generated by tournament items such as team stickers for respective Counter-Strike major events.
Regardless, Valve makes bank profiteering from in-game items and weapon skins, with one of the most desirable skins inside of Counter-Strike being the AK-47 Case Hardened.
The weapon itself isn’t all that special, however it has a cult following due to its unique pattern nature, weapons inside of Counter-Strike will differ despite being the “same” skin due to variances such as weapon condition or “float”, with the lower the float the less “worn” the weapon appears resulting in a higher grade, this all changes per each skin with some offering unique visuals when a skin obtains a higher wear value or higher float.
The real draw for the Case Hardened skins most certainly has to be its pattern, when a weapon skin is unboxed besides the float rating itself it have a randomly generated “seed” that is randomly captured across the pattern template, with the most sought after Case Hardened weapon skins being the “blue gem” variety which as you’d probably guess features the most amount of metallic blue from the template onto the weapon skin itself.
The most infamous seed in regards to the AK-47 Case Hardened is #661, which after ten whole years of being available in game for unboxing had never once been obtained in a StatTrak Factory New condition.
Presently, an exclusive StatTrak edition of the AK-47 Case Hardened gun skin featuring a rare ‘661 pattern’ has surfaced on Buff.163.com, a peer-to-peer trading platform based in China specializing in Counter-Strike items, and is typically the cheapest market place for in-game weapon skins when it comes to purchasing items with real life money.
As reported by the most prolific Counter-Strike YouTuber who covers weapon skins, ohNoPixel, the estimated value for this particular skin ranges from $800,000 to $1 million which I personally would believe to be somewhat authentic.
And it just goes to show just how much of a money laundering scheme these in-game weapon skins truly are, for instance, a Chinese collector purchase a StatTrak M4A4 Howl featuring four iBuyPower Holo Katowice 2014 stickers for $122,000 on Buff163 back in 2021.
Previously, another collector purchased a StatTrak AK-47 Case Hardened in the lower grade “Minimal Ware” finish with the same #661 seed featuring four Titan Holo Katowice 2014 stickers for $150,000, and a couple of years later he had sold that very skin for over $400,000.
Four hundred grand for a weapon skin, its price no doubt helped by the inclusion of four highly sought after stickers attached to the skin itself, with each of those Titan Holo stickers being priced at over $40,000 individually. It is unknown as to what price someone is realistically willing to splurge on a Factory New StatTrak #661 pattern but given that such a skin has been regarded as the “holy grail” of Counter-Strike skins it is genuinely a one of one and may never be replicated again.
Or a second one could be unboxed tomorrow, you never know when it comes to predatory gacha loot box shenanigans.
