So, it finally happened.
The gravy train that has been the plethora of skin gambling sites and skin betting sites saturating the market of valve games is crashing into a fiery death. In midst of the recent events surrounding the scandals with numerous exposes into the shady dealings of site owners alongside ongoing class action lawsuits, Valve took it upon themselves to cut the source of revenues for these sites at the helm -- the Steam API. In an unprecedented move by a company whose modus operandi has been laissez faire, Valve sent a cease & desist letter to 23 websites who operated businesses built on skins. Valve has threatened to stop operations within 10 days, else their accounts shall be terminated.
This is the final move by valve to “cleanse” the game of Counter-Strike, ending the series of changes made to Steam to combat the rise of the unregulated markets. Established outlets will close down, the landscape of Counter-Strike forever changed.
It is common knowledge to fans of Counter-Strike that the introduction of skins catapulted the scene into the esports behemoth of today. The Counter-Strike scene back in 2013 was naught but a fledgling esports title. Events and online leagues fetched a couple thousand viewers at their peak, and the prize pools were paltry. With the announcement of skins, the game surged in popularity -- more tournaments were created, more investments were made, and the viewer counts grew. It was only natural discourse for opportunistic entrepreneurs to take advantage of the legal grey area by monetizing the steam markets for skins. CSGOLounge.com was the first major site to foster this notion of skins being a commodity, a tender currency, and did so with great success. They cornered the market and dominated the space for betting. Wanted to bet on an online match with your skins? You went to CSGOLounge.
While the growth has been explosive, Counter-Strike has suffered growing pains. Many matches have been victim to DDoS attacks, angry fans sending insults to players, and more. Match fixing for skins was brought into light with Valve’s banning of the ex-iBP players, who have since departed from the professional scene. The scene has recovered from such events and have safeguards in place now to deflect such issues, but it is important to note that Counter-Strike has had a very close relationship between the esports and the betting. The relationship was amicable -- you allowed CSGOLounge to create bets for your matches, viewers would flock to your stream with their bets on the line and media coverage increased. All parties were benefiting from this mutual relationship. No change was needed.
While CSGOLounge was coasting alongside their various affiliates, lottery sites have started to grow and morph the gambling commerce. CSGO Lotto, CSGO Wild, etc, have all sprung up and created this ecology that is not unlike an internet Las Vegas. Already operating in the legal gray area, they have enticed underaged users to gamble skins that are purchased and sold with legal fiat currency. And with no regulations nor oversight in place save for good faith on behalf of their users, these sites have begun to explode in size and scope. The sites, owned by various streamers and youtubers, have begun to sponsor and partner with esports teams. With this alliance, they have injected themselves into the Counter-Strike ecosystem.
Class-action lawsuit filed, scandals popping up; the nebulous nature of skin gambling and betting have begun to rear themselves into the limelight.
Valve has taken action. Valve has cut off the festering underbelly of Counter-Strike. Valve has begun to cleanse their game.
For a game that has been married with skins for a very long time, what does this mean for the future? Will Counter-Strike, a game who has grown in large thanks to skin sites, be able to maintain its unprecedented viewing numbers as it now has viewers on TV? Will people continue to enjoy and play Counter-Strike, now that skin gambling and skin betting is for the most part gone? Will Counter-Strike remain the premier esports title when a large portion of its industry is cut off?
Whatever may be the fallout, true fans of Counter-Strike should have no fear. Counter-Strike is going to stay. The most storied team game in esports, built off the legendary success of 1.6, will still be Counter-Strike.
Writer: Amazingxkcd
Editor: ragnarork
CSS: FO-nTTaX
Graphics: TylerJC