Summary:
- With Valve’s new rules, the drawn-out story of skin betting has finally come to a close after being around for so long in Counter-Strike.
- Valve has put penalties in place to prevent sponsors affiliated with skin trading, opening, or gambling from sponsoring events.
For many years, the skin gambling and betting site world of CS2 has existed in a sort of limbo. There’s been a buzz around skins and betting, and at the same time, there’s been some controversy surrounding this culture. But now, Valve has clearly closed that chapter going forward.
Skin Gambling in CS2
Valve’s update in 2013 introduced customizable weapon skins into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). It paved the way for skin gambling and created several billion-dollar virtual economies out of these cosmetic items.
The skins themselves could be earned through playable game drops, case openings (which are essentially loot boxes), and trading for them with other users on the Steam Marketplace. Here, the value of the skins would be affected greatly by how rare they were, how much people wanted them, and what was happening in esports at the time.
Websites that Steam doesn’t own abused Steam’s API so users could deposit skins to bet on esports and other games. These sites offer instant cashouts via high-value skins or Bitcoin through a method that bypassed Valve’s restrictions.
Controversies and Valve’s Crackdown
The practice created huge controversy with the match-fixing scandals that resulted in pro players being banned because of their involvement in rigging bets on betting sites. Notably, Valve sent a series of cease-and-desist letters to shut down dozens of operators due to lawsuits claiming that they allowed children to gamble on their platforms in 2016.
Furthermore, a lot of sites had their trading options taken away due to Twitch & YouTube policies. However, skin gambling continued to be done in secrecy until CS2’s launch.
Valve’s Updated Tournament Rulebook
The latest TOR and Limited Game Tournament License basically stop any sponsors that have a business model based on Valve’s in-game economy. This includes skin gambling, case opening, and skin trading marketplaces being prohibited from appearing anywhere from jerseys to broadcast segments, venue branding or digital overlays.
Conflicts and Operations
In addition, Valve added stricter regulations to how games and teams operate to create a more sports-like structure for tournaments.
Specifically, players, coaches, and organizations must now submit a formal “Declaration of Conflicts of Interest” to disclose any financial or managerial relationships with other teams prior to competing. Anyone who fails to do so will face sanctions, including disqualification from the event and/or loss of prize money.
Furthermore, the revised rulebook contains new Major rules that prohibit any mid-cycle roster changes after an invitation was sent out.
Future of Counter-Strike 2 Majors
The zero-tolerance policy, which applies to all Valve-licensed events and is effective immediately, has team organizers abandoning stream revenues that once supported tier-2 and 3 teams. In the wake of this policy being made public, teams such as NRG and Aurora have rapidly removed their logos.
With the introduction of CS2’s next Major, the esports community is ready for a change in funding. Traditional esports brands will likely come under intense pressure to make up the million-dollar shortfall created by these controversial sponsors.
Conclusion
Valve’s decision to cut ties with skin gambling has far-reaching implications for the industry. Regardless of how you view it, Valve’s decision could change the esports game completely. That’s no easy task, but they’re willing to put forth the effort. By making this effort, they will be taking CS2 to an even higher level of mainstream appeal. Who knows what CS2 will look like in the future?
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