Valve’s tactical shooter Counter-Strike 2 regularly tops the list of most played games on Steam. However, one team believes that more women would play the shooter if they were represented in the standard skins and turned to Valve.
What kind of accusation is this? In Counter-Strike 2, the default skins available to every player are all male. If you want to play as a woman, you have to pay extra. This promotes sexism and prevents more women from playing the Steam shooter, according to allegations from the Danish women’s team Astralis.
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What exactly is the criticism? Counter-Strike player Josefine Jensen published an open letter to Valve on her X/Twitter account on February 28, 2024. In it, the team complains that skins for female agents have to be purchased, while the standard skins are all male.
In the letter, the women affirm how much they care about Counter-Strike. The game is an important part of her life. Nevertheless, they had the feeling that they were just “guests”. The lack of free female skins feels unfair and makes you feel unwelcome.
The lack of standard female skins promotes the sexism that they are already exposed to, according to the players. You can find the original post in English here:
What change are the players demanding? The team demands that Valve have as many female as male free agents. “Let’s take this crucial step towards diversity and inclusivity together,” demands Astralis.
The last sentence of the letter can be understood both as “Let’s free the female agents” or as “Let’s make the female agents free.” Finally, the letter is signed by the members of the Astralis women’s Counter-Strike team .
Shared opinions on social media
How is this discussed? Astralis’ letter received a rather mixed reaction on social media. The Twitch streamer and professional commentator Asmongold explained that it makes sense to have as many female agents available. However, he doesn’t think this change would attract more women into the game.
The Counter-Strike player dona, on the other hand, was less convinced by her fellow players’ demands: “I couldn’t care less about standard female skins,” she wrote on X/Twitter. Instead, Valve should address other problems in the game and develop a proper anti-cheat system to attract new players.
Additionally, dona argues that toxic and sexist behavior from other players is the main reason why many women don’t play Counter-Strike. She calls on Valve to introduce live support that players can contact if they experience such behavior.
Many users are positive or at least neutral about the idea in the comments: The change is easy to implement and has no disadvantages, so why not? However, X would hardly be X if there weren’t numerous comments in which the demand was ridiculed or the players were personally attacked.
It remains to be seen whether Valve will respond to the players’ demands. A previous contact from Astralis appears to have gone unanswered.
We have asked Valve for a statement and will add it here as soon as we have it.
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