Post: Virtual Weapons Are Turning Teen Gamers Into Serious Gamblers
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04-22-2016, 07:08 AM
#1
TheMightyMoJo
Rookie
The video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in which players form teams of terrorists and counterinsurgents and shoot at one another, is a favorite of the professional e-sports circuit. A tournament in early April sold out Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, where the NHL’s Blue Jackets play, and generated 71 million online views over four days. In May, TBS and WME/IMG will launch their own league for CS:GO, as the game is called, streaming games online and broadcasting them on TV on Friday nights.
The game’s current success has made it easy to forget that CS:GO wasn’t an immediate hit for game maker Valve. It was the latest in the aging Counter-Strike series and came out at a time when there was no shortage of other shoot-’em-up games to choose from. Everything changed when Valve introduced something new: decorative virtual weapons, known as “skins,” that could be acquired in the game and sold for real money.
In-game purchases weren’t new, but the cash trade was Valve’s special twist. Within two years, the number of people playing CS:GO had grown 1,500 percent. Today, there are 380,000 people around the world playing the game at any given time.
When it introduced the skins, Valve said in an announcement that the online arms bazaar would let Counter-Strike players “experience all the thrills of black-market weapons trafficking without any of the hanging around in darkened warehouses getting knifed to death.” It was supposed to be a joke. But the reference to black markets was prescient.
Reasonable people can debate whether competitive video gaming is a sport, but it has at least one thing in common with football, basketball, and soccer: People like to bet on the outcome. For CS:GO, the introduction of skins led to a thriving gambling market. People buy skins for cash, then use the skins to place online bets on pro CS:GO matches. Because there’s a liquid market to convert each gun or knife back into cash, laying a bet in skins is essentially the same as betting with real money.
CS:GO’s popularity skyrocketed along with the skins gambling markets. Valve has sold 21 million copies of the game and made $567 million in total revenue from the title since it debuted almost four years ago, according to research firm SuperData, and a range of websites now let players trade or sell skins, or use them to gamble.
This kind of betting is far from mainstream, but plenty of people are figuring it out. By one estimate, more than 3 million people wagered $2.3 billion worth of skins on the outcome of e-sports matches in 2015. This, too, has contributed to Valve’s bottom line. The gambling sites run on software built by Valve, and whenever CS:GO skins are sold, the game maker collects 15 percent of the money.
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05-24-2016, 03:52 AM
#2
ymh
Treasure hunter
Originally posted by TheMightyMoJo
[h=2]The boom in pro video gaming is fueled by $2.3 billion in online bets.[/h]
The video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in which players form teams of terrorists and counterinsurgents and shoot at one another, is a favorite of the professional e-sports circuit. A tournament in early April sold out Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, where the NHL’s Blue Jackets play, and generated 71 million online views over four days. In May, TBS and WME/IMG will launch their own league for CS:GO, as the game is called, streaming games online and broadcasting them on TV on Friday nights.
The game’s current success has made it easy to forget that CS:GO wasn’t an immediate hit for game maker Valve. It was the latest in the aging Counter-Strike series and came out at a time when there was no shortage of other shoot-’em-up games to choose from. Everything changed when Valve introduced something new: decorative virtual weapons, known as “skins,” that could be acquired in the game and sold for real money.
In-game purchases weren’t new, but the cash trade was Valve’s special twist. Within two years, the number of people playing CS:GO had grown 1,500 percent. Today, there are 380,000 people around the world playing the game at any given time.
When it introduced the skins, Valve said in an announcement that the online arms bazaar would let Counter-Strike players “experience all the thrills of black-market weapons trafficking without any of the hanging around in darkened warehouses getting knifed to death.” It was supposed to be a joke. But the reference to black markets was prescient.
Reasonable people can debate whether competitive video gaming is a sport, but it has at least one thing in common with football, basketball, and soccer: People like to bet on the outcome. For CS:GO, the introduction of skins led to a thriving gambling market. People buy skins for cash, then use the skins to place online bets on pro CS:GO matches. Because there’s a liquid market to convert each gun or knife back into cash, laying a bet in skins is essentially the same as betting with real money.
CS:GO’s popularity skyrocketed along with the skins gambling markets. Valve has sold 21 million copies of the game and made $567 million in total revenue from the title since it debuted almost four years ago, according to research firm SuperData, and a range of websites now let players trade or sell skins, or use them to gamble.
This kind of betting is far from mainstream, but plenty of people are figuring it out. By one estimate, more than 3 million people wagered $2.3 billion worth of skins on the outcome of e-sports matches in 2015. This, too, has contributed to Valve’s bottom line. The gambling sites run on software built by Valve, and whenever CS:GO skins are sold, the game maker collects 15 percent of the money.
Read More Here: You must login or register to view this content.
The video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in which players form teams of terrorists and counterinsurgents and shoot at one another, is a favorite of the professional e-sports circuit. A tournament in early April sold out Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, where the NHL’s Blue Jackets play, and generated 71 million online views over four days. In May, TBS and WME/IMG will launch their own league for CS:GO, as the game is called, streaming games online and broadcasting them on TV on Friday nights.
The game’s current success has made it easy to forget that CS:GO wasn’t an immediate hit for game maker Valve. It was the latest in the aging Counter-Strike series and came out at a time when there was no shortage of other shoot-’em-up games to choose from. Everything changed when Valve introduced something new: decorative virtual weapons, known as “skins,” that could be acquired in the game and sold for real money.
In-game purchases weren’t new, but the cash trade was Valve’s special twist. Within two years, the number of people playing CS:GO had grown 1,500 percent. Today, there are 380,000 people around the world playing the game at any given time.
When it introduced the skins, Valve said in an announcement that the online arms bazaar would let Counter-Strike players “experience all the thrills of black-market weapons trafficking without any of the hanging around in darkened warehouses getting knifed to death.” It was supposed to be a joke. But the reference to black markets was prescient.
Reasonable people can debate whether competitive video gaming is a sport, but it has at least one thing in common with football, basketball, and soccer: People like to bet on the outcome. For CS:GO, the introduction of skins led to a thriving gambling market. People buy skins for cash, then use the skins to place online bets on pro CS:GO matches. Because there’s a liquid market to convert each gun or knife back into cash, laying a bet in skins is essentially the same as betting with real money.
CS:GO’s popularity skyrocketed along with the skins gambling markets. Valve has sold 21 million copies of the game and made $567 million in total revenue from the title since it debuted almost four years ago, according to research firm SuperData, and a range of websites now let players trade or sell skins, or use them to gamble.
This kind of betting is far from mainstream, but plenty of people are figuring it out. By one estimate, more than 3 million people wagered $2.3 billion worth of skins on the outcome of e-sports matches in 2015. This, too, has contributed to Valve’s bottom line. The gambling sites run on software built by Valve, and whenever CS:GO skins are sold, the game maker collects 15 percent of the money.
Read More Here: You must login or register to view this content.
when i was still at school some f my friend played csgo a lot and were always going on about getting a radius some of money on some rare stuff and so many cents on average stuff i personally never have looked at the weapon stuff i just start the game and go start into a much and never looked at any of that stuff so i have no idea about how any of this works tbh,, i don't believe in putting real money into a game unless its a dlc for a game i love to play and even then if i feel its a rip off example: cod camos for non season pass holders its better to just get a fix edat. i was on of the people who bought the first dlc straight up on bo2 then later got a surprise with added camos though i did buy them all once but account got banned for no reason and cause detail where fake couldn't recover it as for my steam i don't play many pc games
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05-26-2016, 08:23 PM
#6
Rath
Today Will Be Different
Originally posted by Kam
I started with $12 and got up to $31 then I bet it all like the fucktard I am...
At least your honest about it lmfao.
I stopped betting over a year ago. I lost real big once -- we're talking a losing streak topping out around $6k in awp assis -- and I was like ya fuck this shit. If only I believed IBP was throwing I could have made mad bank.
05-26-2016, 08:24 PM
#7
Kam
Investor - Future Millionaire
Originally posted by F
At least your honest about it lmfao.
I stopped betting over a year ago. I lost real big once -- we're talking a losing streak topping out around $6k in awp assis -- and I was like ya fuck this shit. If only I believed IBP was throwing I could have made mad bank.
I stopped betting over a year ago. I lost real big once -- we're talking a losing streak topping out around $6k in awp assis -- and I was like ya fuck this shit. If only I believed IBP was throwing I could have made mad bank.
Dang lol... I don't even wanna get addicted. I'm gonna keep it small
05-27-2016, 09:14 PM
#10
Toke
PC Master Race
Originally posted by F
At least your honest about it lmfao.
I stopped betting over a year ago. I lost real big once -- we're talking a losing streak topping out around $6k in awp assis -- and I was like ya fuck this shit. If only I believed IBP was throwing I could have made mad bank.
I stopped betting over a year ago. I lost real big once -- we're talking a losing streak topping out around $6k in awp assis -- and I was like ya fuck this shit. If only I believed IBP was throwing I could have made mad bank.
wouldnt we have all...
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