Valve is already making a big profit from Counter-Strike 2

The analytical portal Wccftech drew attention to a study by the CS:GO Case Tracker website, which calculated the number of cases opened by players of the online shooter CS:GO in March - the month of the announcement of Counter-Strike 2.

Recall that CS:GO has loot boxes with random cosmetic items, for example, at the end of a match, but to access their contents, Valve charges players $2.5 for a key.

The record for the number of CS:GO cases opened in a month before the announcement of Counter-Strike 2 was set in February 2023 with a figure of 27.7 million.

According to CS:GO Case Tracker data, in March, CS:GO players opened almost 39.5 million cases, spending about $98.7 million on this. The largest increase came on March 22 - the day of the Counter-Strike 2 announcement.

Valve has no plans to abandon cases with the release of Counter-Strike 2. Moreover, the studio has confirmed that all user cosmetic items will be transferred to the new game version.

Wccftech journalists suggest that the increase in the number of cases opened in March is related to the upcoming major changes in the in-game economy, which gamers are reacting to by stocking up on items.

The release of Counter-Strike 2 is scheduled for the summer of 2023, and the game is currently undergoing limited testing, which can only be accessed by Valve invitation.