Counter-Strike is a megapopular tactical shooter, and one of the reasons for its sustained popularity is its in-game market. Digital items like gloves and knives go for thousands–if not millions–of dollars, but all of that changed within the last few hours as a new update completely wiped out roughly $1.75 billion in value.
According to a new Bloomberg report, in-game CS items ranging from guns to knives to gloves fell 25% between Wednesday, October 22, and Thursday, October 23. In these two days, developer Valve Corporation pushed out an update for the shooter that altered the exchange rates of these items. Immediately following this update, the prices for these items tanked, with market analytics company Pricempire estimating the losses in the billions. Ethan MacDonald, the company’s marketing manager, told Bloomberg that he was stunned by the change.
“This was a complete shock to the community,” he said. “This completely changes the supply of Counter-Strike’s most sought-after and expensive tier of items.”
