On the night of October 23, Valve triggered a massive sell-off in the Counter-Strike 2 skin market. According to data from Pricempire, the total market capitalization plunged by nearly 30% in just a few hours, falling to around $4.2 billion following an update to the game’s knife contract system.
Valve has reworked how knives and gloves are obtained — players can now craft them using five “Covert” skins. As a result, prices of “gold”-tier items dropped significantly, while “red” skins surged in value.
Industry insider Alexey “OverDrive” Biryukov believes the skin market won’t collapse anytime soon. In his view, Valve merely shifted value between different item tiers while earning an “incredible” profit from the update.
Just two days earlier, on October 21, the CS2 skin market reached a record $6 billion capitalization, continuing a steady rise that had begun in July 2024 — before the sudden downturn reshaped the entire market.
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