The Most Expensive CS:GO Skin Ever Sold

Counter Strike: Global Offensive continues to hold onto the popularity it enjoyed when it first released back in 2012. And while a big portion of this is due to its intense gameplay (and opportunity to lord your PvP skills over your friends), something else has also given its longevity a surprising boost. An update to CS:GO in 2013 called the "Arms Dealer" update introduced the possibility to trade skins in the game.

While this may seem like a relatively insignificant point, it led to a lucrative market where people could make real-world money from things they obtained in the game. But how much money could you possibly make from CS:GO skins, and what is the most expensive CS:GO skin ever sold? The answer is surprising.

In January 2018, an Arctic Warfare Police sniper rifle sold for a whopping $61,000. That's right: $61,000, or the same amount of real-world money that could buy you a nice Model 3 Tesla. But the skin on the weapon was the real star of the show. It was an AWP Dragon Lore, which was a relatively expensive and sought after skin all by itself. And the fact that this skin was a souvenir that could only be obtained from a tournament crate gave it a higher price tag than most.

But even for an expensive CS:GO skin, $61,000 is an insane price, so you know it had to be something special. And it was. The skin had unique stickers, for instance. It also had a "factory new" status that made it unmarred. And it even included the signature of Skadoodle on it, who — the day before — had just won the MVP title for Cloud9, which won the Boston Major CS:GO tournament (that signature was apparently enough to raise the price significantly).

While the final owner who dropped the hefty $61,000 for the sniper and the skin is unknown, the original owner was a collector who by the name of Drone, who paid $35,000 for his original purchase and can safely say that he made a good profit from the turnaround. It's possible that the identity of the current owner may never be known, as people who are willing to spend $61,000 on a game skin usually deal in cryptocurrency for their security. Because of the use of cryptocurrency and most buyers and sellers transacting privately, it's also difficult to know for sure that a skin hasn't sold for more in the past.

It's probably safe to say, however, that $61,000 is enough to qualify this skin as the most expensive in CS:GO.