Skins belong to CS:GO like the air we breathe. However, some of them reach such astronomical prices that you actually lose your breath. We show you the five most expensive ones.
By now, all gamers should be familiar with
skins. They are offered in almost all major online games such as League of Legends, Fortnite and others. Most of the time, the prices for skins are in the one to two-digit range. In CS:GO, however, skins are a world of their own. Again and again, stories about individual skins become known, from which one could just as well finance a cosy holiday home by the sea. Here you can find the five most expensive skins at the moment.
What makes some skins so expensive?
There are a few factors that can affect the price of a CS:GO skin. For example, if it has a small amount of “wear and tear”, that raises the price. The best skins are those that are brand new, have the StatTrak™ (a kill counting function), a very low drop rate, the rarest pattern and the most expensive stickers. In short, the rarer a skin, the more expensive it is.
So it can be that the market value for the same skin varies enormously. But what are the most expensive skins?
Place 5 – Katowice 2014 Stickers (Holo): €10,000 – €40,000
The very first skin is actually not a skin at all, but a sticker. Or rather, two stickers that are traded in pretty much the same price range. Stickers can be added to a skin in CS:GO and raise its price even more. These extremely rare stickers are stickers from teams iBuyPower and Titan for IEM Katowice 2014, and in the past they have sold for up to €40,000. Due to the special status these stickers enjoy, they are partly responsible for some of the following price shockers.
Place 4 – M4A4 Howl: €2,000 – €100,000
There is a special story behind the high price for the most expensive skin of the M4A4: The original design for this skin was stolen. Accordingly, the skin was only available for a short time before it was taken out of the running again for copyright reasons. The most expensive of the few in circulation was sold in 2020 for the equivalent of about €100,000.
Place 3 – AK-47 Case Hardened (Pattern 661): €30,000 – €120,000
The Case Hardened skin series is generally one of the more expensive ones in CS:GO. In this particular case, a very special pattern (number 661) is responsible for the enormous price. This variant of the skin has a particularly high proportion of the blue shimmer that makes up the skin series. Only such so-called “Blue Gems” fetch prices that can reach the six-digit range.
Place 2 – Souvenir AWP Dragon Lore: €24,000 – €400,000
Souvenir is a status that can further increase the price of skins. You only get a chance at Souvenir Drops in official Esport matches, which makes them much rarer. No wonder the already most coveted skin in CS:GO comes in second on our list, with an estimated value of up to €400,000.
Place 1 – Karambit Case Hardened (Blue Gem): over 1.200.000€
First place goes to a very special karambit that was actually never sold for the price mentioned. It is the only Blue Gem Karambit that has factory new status. Its owner bought it in 2016 for a measly €100,000. Since then, its value has increased immeasurably, as a purchase offer of €1.2 million has already been rejected. In the community, the value of the Karambit is estimated at up to €2 million.
Many find it difficult to imagine spending so much money on “a few pixels”. After all, you could buy a small villa on Mallorca for 1.2 million euros, for example. On the other hand, the same could be said for precious stones – real “gems” – couldn”t it?
