CSGO skins versus NFTs – one is a game, the other is a gamble

CSGO skins was ahead of its time. If I had told you ten years ago that gamers could make a fortune playing an online shooter, opening little digital cases and selling what was inside, it might have sounded outlandish. But Valve’s FPS game was a trailblazer, and formed the blueprint for what we now call “non-fungible tokens,” or NFTs. Long before the bored monkeys, CSGO players were trading virtual items. Naturally, NFT collectors may be curious to invest in CSGO skins, but while they may seem similar, the two items are very different.

At first glance, NFTs and skins are almost the same. They are both virtual, both are traded online, and both apparently have the potential to make some quick bucks for their owners. However, while NFTs are primarily for investment, CSGO skins are often traded among gaming enthusiasts who use and resell them.

Since CSGO skins are only for entertainment and beautification of Valve’s game, they are also ultimately under Valve’s control. For example, recently Valve converted all Doodle Lore skins to Duality following copyright claims, leaving some players with contraband. Buyers of the eye-catching Doodle Lore were in for a surprise when they woke up to find an antique version of Duality instead. It’s just one example of how much power Valve has over Steam accounts and the skin market.

Any digitally savvy person would think twice before letting $500,000 sit idle in their Steam account for months, knowing that Valve is the ultimate boss. CSGO players – the owners of Counter-Strike skins – do not really, or at least fully, control what they own. Conversely, an NFT is pure investment, protected by the first-class Blockchain that ensures their security. The owner of an NFT has the exclusive right to transfer, sell or trade the NFT to another party, as long as the transaction is recorded on the Blockchain.

CSGO skins aren’t non-fungible – they’re scarce

One very obvious difference is that CSGO skins are, in stark contrast to NFTs, fungible. Valve rolls out similar skins in droves, and it’s up to players to modify them through crafting or use, earning a unique float. However, it is possible to recreate a float of the skin – wear, stickers, etc. can change a base skin, but every combination of wear, stickers, etc. can be copied by another player, meaning that any CSGO skin can be duplicated, and none are truly unique.

NFTs, on the other hand, are never identical. Sure, you can see a similar boring monkey, but a distinct smart contract identifier is where the actual money lies.

In a way, CSGO skins are more profitable

CSGO skins aren’t exactly like NFTs, but they can be much more lucrative, at least for serial players. Imagine you buy a designer bag for $800, and shortly after the purchase, the manufacturer discontinues that particular design. 12 months later, thanks to scarcity, the bag is now worth $900. Not only can you sell it for $100 in profit, but you’ve had a year of using the bag. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too? The same is the case for CSGO skins.

CSGO skins have a purpose besides being a smart short-term investment. You can actually use skins in the game, which is reflected in a skin’s float value. An NFT by comparison has no purpose other than to either increase or decrease in value – you have your pie and it may eventually be worth more or less than what you paid for it, but in the meantime all you can do is watch your cake.

On the other hand, once a CSGO skin has passed its official release, that’s it: it’s not possible to get it by normal means. That’s what makes your CSGO inventory a potential cash cow. Although technically not investments, CSGO skins can provide solid returns due to scarcity, which tends to increase over time.

Comparing CSGO skins to NFTs boils down to purpose. They are not NFTs until they are genuinely non-fungible and players own and control them directly. It’s unlikely that Valve would allow their skins to trade outside of Steam’s world. As such, the two items remain very different, and fully merging one into the other would require a fundamental change in how CSGO skins are released, traded, and regulated, a change that CSGO players will almost certainly never want.

Check out the system requirements for Counter-Strike 2 that we expect Valve to announce, as well as everything there is to know about the Counter-Strike 2 release date. You may also want to see all the Counter-Strike 2 maps that are being rebuilt in Source 2.