What’s the deal with Lootboxes in CS:GO?

Over the years, CS:GO has established a trade in cosmetic weapon skins that players find in Lootboxes, some of which can be sold on the marketplace for absurdly high sums. The likelihood of getting good loot boxes in CS:GO is low. Often you open one box after another and still don’t get any special items. In the end, buying and opening Lootboxes is a kind of gamble: you can be very lucky and get a special skin, but you can also just get “losers”.

Who is xQc?

The Canadian streamer made a name for himself in 2016 as a professional player in Overwatch, but now also streams CS:GO and other games. With 10.9 million followers, he is now one of the most successful Twitch streamers in the world. As we know from a big leak, xQc is also the streamer on Twitch with the highest revenue through the subscription model. Prime Gaming, the secret behind Twitch’s success.

CS:GO stream: xQc’s hot streak begins

That was the streak: xQc opens old CS:GO weapon boxes in a stream. These boxes are the most expensive lootbox in CS:GO with over 55,- € per box. The top skins of this box are:

• AWP Lightning Strike
• AK-47 Case Hardened

The probability of getting one of the two weapon skins is vanishingly small. In fact, xQc will receive two of the rare AWP skins and an AK-47 skin worth over €950. That’s quite a tally, considering that xQc had only opened eleven Lootboxes at that point. However, the streamer was unaware at the first moment that he had just received absolute top skins. Accordingly, xQc reacted emotionlessly to the AWP “Lightning Strike”.

Streamer who makes the most money on Twitch anyway also has the most luck

What else did xQc get?

Since his return to CS:GO the streamer is really pursued by the Loot luck. So he got 2 very valuable knives in the last months. Many knives in CS:GO can be sold for around 100 €. Some even for several thousands. Depending on the skin and color scheme, the price can rise additionally. When xQc opened a “Chroma 2” weapons box, he received the “Karambit Marble Fade” knife with the familiar “Fire and Ice” design. It was “Factory New” and “Stat Trak.” A combination that is incredibly rare and worth the equivalent of more than € 1,900.

When xQc opens another loot box, he receives a Karambit knife in the “Crimson Web” design. The streamer seems disappointed at first and even comments on his loot as “garbage”. At the same time, the streamer was once again extremely lucky. The pictured net of the skin was in the middle of the blade, which increased the price of the weapon by an additional 50%. The knife is thus worth between € 1,100 and € 1,600. After all these lucky grabs, there was one more surprise at the end. xQc received a Stat Trak AK-47 “Fire Serpent”. Because it was equipped with Stat Trak, the value was around 1.900 €.

xQc always finds new ways to indulge his gambling addiction

Here’s what’s behind it:

Although xQc has been incredibly lucky with its lootboxes, one thing must not be forgotten: To get valuable items, you have to spend a lot of money beforehand. Especially the most expensive CS:GO boxes are not cheap at over €55. xQc showed a disastrous tendency to gamble in online casinos in the past, to the point of addiction: the streamer realized his problem and wanted to stop gambling on Twitch.

He was also heavily criticized by other streamers for his gambling streams: It was said that he was modeling negative behavior to his young audience. xQc also repeatedly warned against gambling, but then gambled away large sums. Looking at his €55 turns on lootboxes now, it begs the question if looting in CS:GO isn’t simply another form of gambling and xQc is falling back into his addiction. In any case, the positive impression that the large audience might get from gambling is problematic.

The fact that expenses usually exceed income and that the probability of big winnings is vanishingly small can be quickly forgotten during such a lucky streak That it can also go quite differently, you can see in this case: A CS:GO player bought Lootboxes worth 200,000 € and was bitterly disappointed. What do you think about xQc’s CS:GO streams? Post it in the comments.