Taking a Closer Look at CS:GO Skins
Even if you are a tried-and-true fan of the Counter-Strike series, you might be quite surprised to realize for how long CS:GO has been out in the wild. For over five years it’s been hitting top game charts all around the globe. CS:GO is reported to have made it into the top three on Steam in 2017 with 815K peak players, trailing only to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Dota 2, according to a recent research by GitHyp. What makes it so popular as of this year?
Nurturing the fans
Being the fourth game in the impressive lineup of FPS games by Valve Corporation, CS:GO significantly contributed to the overall popularity boost of the series.
Together with the streamlining of traditional CS content, the game has acquired a host of brand new features like gameplay modes, leader boards, matchmaking, maps, characters, and weapons, to name a few. All these updates add up to dramatic game value growth.
In-game item customization
Among the things mentioned above, there is one particularly prominent feature cherished by most CS:GO gamers. In 2013, the Arms Deal update granted all players StatTrak™ Weapons — a customizable firearm set equipped with a special kill-tracking technology. Moreover, gamers were given a huge advantage in being able to buy, sell, collect, and trade various decorated items in the Steam Community Market or elsewhere via the Internet. They are commonly known as CS:GO skins or finishes.
Skin Collections
How many skins are there in CS:GO? Believe it or not, there are way too many. All skins are classified according to their quality grades and thematic relation. To make the customization process even more sophisticated, there is also an exterior quality, indicating the level of wear and tear of the skin you happen to pick.
- Coloring
Various colors are used to show the rarity grade of a certain skin. Thus, skins range from the most commonplace, marked with a White color, up to extremely rare, which have a Yellow Orange hue. The skin coloring of your equipped weapon can be seen on a player’s HUD while playing the game.
- Collectables
In the meantime, a quite different color classification is used for your in-game inventory and Steam Market preview, where all common skins are bordered with white, knives with purple, StatTrak™ weapon skins are orange, self-made skins are green, and the skins obtained from various Valve events and tournament matches are referred to as Souvenir class and colored yellow.
- Exteriors
Skins are usually grouped into collections with regard to some themes or maps within the game. As a rule, when you uncrate a certain type of container, all the skins inside belong to the same collection. However, there are a number of collections relating to more generic themes that can therefore be found throughout various maps or operations. Click here to see the complete list of CS:GO skin collections.
This feature is meant to imitate real-life characteristics of weapon exterior appearance, meaning that an item can be subjected to temporal and physical changes. Hence, different textures are used to demonstrate whether a weapon is newly minted or worn out. In CS:GO, skins fall into five categories in accordance with their wear condition:
Most popular skins of 2017
In nearly all MMO games, first-timers are literally astonished when they discover the wide variation in prices for in-game artifacts on marketplaces. The same is true of CS:GO. While common items are relatively cheap, rare skin prices may skyrocket up to umpteen thousand dollars per item. However, being popular is not all about money or rarity, since some skins may be rather cheap but so appealing that no fan can resist buying them for their collection.
1. AWP | Dragon Lore — $61 000
This is the most pricey in-game item to be sold so far. This year a CS:GO fan had to pony up over $61,052.63 to receive a Dragon Lore skin for his sniper rifle. Once applied to your weapon, the skin gives it a fantasy look with eye-catching figures and patterns.
2. M4A4 | Howl — $1079
This unique skin looks very frightening — as if the deadly beast on it is going to tear all your enemies to shreds. The skin is extremely rare since Valve had to remove it from new cases, and the only way to get it is to trade on Steam Market.
3. AWP | Medusa — $862
The cold blue color contributes to the killing look of this skin. With such a skin on board, your shots will be as lethal as the gaze of the mythical Medusa.
4. Karambit | Case Hardened — $258
This knife skin can make your weapon look solid and unbreakable.
Apply it right away to stab your enemies with hard and inevitable hits.
5. AK-47 | Fire Serpent — $197
The name of this skin for one of the most powerful automatic rifles speaks for itself. A deep green serpent seems to glance up, helping you overwhelm all attackers with mighty blows.
6. M9 Bayonet | Crimson Web — $193
With this skin on, your knife will look like a blood-thirsty spider weaving its cobweb. From now on, you become quite a dangerous adversary to everyone standing on your way to victory.
7. AK-47 | The Empress — $63
The Empress depicted on this skin possesses the kind of beauty that can kill opponents on the spot. She wields stronger and more furious powers than any man ever dreamt of. So why not use it to your advantage in combat?
8. P90 | Emerald Dragon — $28
Yet another mighty dragon to equip your pet weapon with. It may look quite peaceful, but its appearance is deceptive. The deadly creature is more likely to set an ambush to take its enemies off guard.
9. AK-47 | Case Hardened — $28
Empower your weapon of choice with this firm-looking skin, geared exclusively to seasoned gunslingers. It lacks bright details that can distract your attention while on combat missions; however, its laconic design is pitch-perfect for stealth operations.
10. Five-SeveN | Hyper Beast — $15
Make use of the savagery of this stalwart creature when it comes to high precision pistol standoff. The skin, though being rather commonplace to drop in CS:GO, has its own expressive style and appeal.
What are CS:GO skins on closer inspection? Their function is merely cosmetic. The skins give you no special advantage while playing the game, nor do they provide you with any additional functionality. Once applied to your weapon of choice, one of the numerous CS:GO skins enhances the way a pistol, SMG or rifle looks in-game. Sick and tired of a threadbare no-frills appearance of your, say, SCAR-20 sniper rifle? Just find or buy the skin you like and then apply it on your pet weapon instead.
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Originally published at dmarket.com on April 10, 2018.
