Knives and Gloves values crashed up to 50% after the new update reduced their rarity.

Valve has released a major update for Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), which has flipped the market upside down. The introduction of trade-up contracts of covert items, something not possible up to this point, has set the multi-million-dollar market of skins ablaze, both on Steam and third-party sites.

What’s new with the update?

To keep it short, players are now able to obtain the highly sought-after knives and gloves through a new trade-up contract. Five Covert (red) quality weapon skins from the same collection can be traded to craft either a knife or gloves.

Ex:
5 StatTrak Covert skins = StatTrak knife
5 regular Covert Skins = non-StatTrak knife or a pair of gloves

Although costly, this is a new path to obtain items that previously could only be found in random case openings. This ease of accessibility decreases the perceived rarity of the items within the CS2 economy.

Covert Skins Spike

Immediately after the update, a spike in the prices of Covert-quality weapon skins could be seen both on the Steam Community Market and third-party sites. Demand soared as both players and traders rushed to acquire the five skins needed for the trade-up contracts, leading to shortages and inflated prices. In just 24 hours popular Covert skins’ prices spiked drastically.

Knives and Gloves Tank

In contrast, the value of existing knives and gloves has tanked. Losing the rarity appeal and an uncertain future (not knowing how the market will react in the future) has proven too much; many popular knives plummeted between 20% and, in some cases, over 50%.

Trade Restriction: Crafted Knives and Gloves

At the time of writing this article, the knives and gloves obtained through these trade-ups are trade locked for 7 days. This seems to be intentional as a failsafe to prevent the new items from flooding the market.

This rapid shift in demand has created a volatile environment. Adding to this Steam’s trading restrictions, like the 7-day trade lock and the ~15% trading fee, and we can expect a slow-moving market hostile to those planning on “flipping” items with reduced liquidity.

A New Dawn for the CS2 Economy?

This update seems aimed at permanently altering the skin trading market. For all intents and purposes, Covet skins are a new tier of currency, not just valued for their appearance but also valued as a key component to acquire knives.

On the one hand this update is likely to please casual players, while on the other hand hardcore players, long-time collectors and traders will find their collections devalued. It is amid uncertainty and mixed feelings from the community that we reach the end of this article.

Let us know what you think of this update in the comments below.