Skin rentals are now a thing with the May 24 update for Counter-Strike 2. Available so far on the sequel's very first collection, the Kilowatt Case, players can rent skins for a week for the price of the case and a $2.50 USD key, and the community appears to be cautiously welcoming of Valve's new model.
You can now RENT skins in CS2??
Gun skin cases have been at the forefront of Counter-Strike’s revenue model since 2013. However, until the Kilowatt Case update, you had to spend money on keys to open cases and have a chance at a desired gun skin, unless you purchased a specific skin on the community market or third-party websites. Depending on the drop rate of a specific skin in a case, and subsequently the drop rate of the case as a whole, it wasn’t a rare sight to see a highly sought-after skin sell for hundreds of dollars. Now, however, the skin rental service gives subscribers access to all skins in the collection for a week at a fixed price.
CS2 players shared their perspectives on the newly introduced feature in a May 25 thread on the game's subreddit. Most support the model as it offers the ability to play with the recently released rare skins for a nominal price. However, players are wary of the baked-in "subscription model" that could have much broader implications for the complex CS2 skin economy.
“I see the strategy behind it and I’m not against subscriptions as long as I can still buy and own what I want,” one player said. After all, skins, rented or otherwise, don’t detract from the core Counter-Strike experience. “It doesn’t affect my experience at all, so I think it’s a great addition for those who want to use it,” another player said, noting the alleged gatekeeping by experienced skin dealers that the post’s author was referring to.
