The value of digital items in the popular video-game Counter-Strike has fallen 48% following an update by the title’s developer Valve Corp.
Over the past year, investors wary of the volatility in the S&P 500 and cryptocurrency markets have snapped up the video-game items at a record rate.
The price of Counter-Strike items, ranging from digital guns and knives to gloves, can fluctuate depending on a number of factors, including scarcity, player engagement and changes pushed by the game’s developer. In 2024, one virtual gun sold for over US$1mil (RM4.2mil).
At 7pm in New York on Oct 22, an update from Valve shifted the exchange rate between various categories of items, such as knives and gloves. Afterward, prices plummeted, erasing roughly US$3bil (RM12.60bil) in value by Friday morning, according to data from Pricempire, an analytics company that calculates an aggregate market value for the items.
"This was a complete shock to the community,” said Ethan MacDonald, marketing manager for Pricempire. "This completely changes the supply of Counter-Strike’s most sought-after and expensive tier of items.”
Counter-Strike traders are primarily young gamers. Oscar Stapleton, a 20-year-old in London, had US$1mil worth of digital items in his inventory Wednesday night. He lost US$270,000 (RM1.13mil) in less than 24 hours, he said. "I’ve had a good past few months,” he said. "This is a shock.”
In China, where a lot of Counter-Strike trading activity takes place, myriad videos bemoaning the downturn circulated on social media.
Valve runs a marketplace for Counter-Strike items, but most of the trading activity takes place through unofficial channels. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Many investors, traders and players have been selling off a lot of items out of fear that the ‘bubble’ has finally popped,” MacDonald said. – Bloomberg
