Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is popular with fans of tactical shooters, but also offers a large marketplace with valuable skins and items from the in-game loot boxes. A trader now got the shock of his life – his Steam account was suddenly blocked.
With the announcement of Counter-Strike 2, the old tactical shooter CS:GO is back in the conversation. CS2 should come in the summer as an upgrade from Global Offensive and revamp the technology.
The unexpected news also stimulated the CS:GO skins market. Steam was the first gaming platform that allowed digital goods to be traded with each other and the market is thriving (via earlygame.com). The prospect of many new players or buyers with CS2 boosts prices.
For example, the German streamer MontanaBlack recently took a closer look at CS:GO and its loot boxes. In 2023, however, he is quite late with his investments.
Others have been trading since 2015 or longer. Among them the Steam user “GeRy”. His portfolio of CS:GO skins weighs a whopping 443,318.47 euros (via csgobackpack.net / as of April 11, 6:00 p.m.). But currently he has no access to it. Steam has blocked his account.
If you want to know more about the new Counter-Strike 2, start our video:
Counter-Strike 2 heralds a new era – The most important changes in the video
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“Suspicious content posted or upvoted on Steam”
GeRy describes himself on Twitter as an “entrepreneur & trader”. He even developed a browser addon to make trading CS:GO skins easier.
But when he surfed with his Steam account yesterday, his heart must have slipped into his pants, onto the floor and out onto the street. Because his account with CS:GO skins worth 440,000 euros was blocked.
He sent out a call for help on Twitter:
Why was the account blocked? According to his own statement, the ban hit him shortly after a comment on a skin seller’s Steam profile. GeRy actually just wanted to ask about his M9 skin that he bought. A link was broken, he didn’t get his skin.
Steam gave him the reason for the ban that he “posted or upvoted suspicious content on Steam”.
Even an upvote of the “wrong” content on Steam can lead to a ban. Even an unfortunate comment can turn off the lights in the account temporarily.
It is currently suspected that the ban was imposed because his comment was about trading. So GeRy mentioned the marketplace “Gamerpay”, possibly a “suspicious” word.
Will he get his account back? Yes, with a high probability. The ban was most likely an automatic feature of Steam. Such bans are said to have increased in recent months if you look at the comments under tweets on the subject.
Under GeRy’s tweet, many users give him hope that the ban will be lifted quickly. He should contact support, clarify the situation and then there shouldn’t be any problems.
The cover photo is from GeRy’s Instagram account and we have obtained his permission to use it.
Even though GeRy will very likely regain access to his account, the story also shows Steam’s power over a marketplace that runs almost unseen in the background and manages millions of values.
Have you already dealt with the Steam marketplace, maybe traded skins? Tell us about your experiences or leave a comment on the topic.
An account on Steam has skins from CS: GO worth 4.7 million euros – players worry after the ban: “That’s so much money”