The most expensive CS:GO skin ever sold is the AK-47 | Case Hardened with the pattern #661, rating it as the ultimate AK-47 blue gem in existence. A private collector bought it for $1,000,000 USD in June 2024, recording it as the biggest sale in the history of CS:GO and CS2.
If you want to learn more about it, such as the reasons why this skin is such a valuable asset, and how this deal was possible, we invite you to read this article.
You’re going to learn all about the ST AK-47 | Case Hardened (Factory New) #661, and also important facts about the CS:GO economy and the rising value and evolution of in-game assets, in addition to predictions on which skins will become the most expensive CS:GO item ever sold in the near future.
Why Is the StatTrak AK-47 | Case Hardened #661 (Factory New) the Most Expensive CS Skin Ever Sold?
If you want to understand why a collector agreed to pay $1,000,000 USD for this skin, let’s analyze the 6 factors that contributed to the biggest sale in the history of CS:GO. You’re going to see how they all contributed to pricing it at 7 figures and how the deal took place.
1. The Ultimate Blue Gem Pattern for AK-47
In the world of CS:GO skins, and precisely the realm of blue gem AK-47 skins, the rarest and most highly sought after ones are the AK-47s with “scar patterns”. Because they, evidently, feature plenty of blue, usually on the top, along with a small scar that extends towards the front of the rifle, bringing it an astonishing look that collectors and traders die for.
And when we talk about the most expensive CS item ever sold, we’re talking about the ULTIMATE blue gem AK-47. This pattern, the #661, is regarded as the perfect blue gem seed for the AK-47 | Case Hardened weapon, making it the best “scar pattern” in the world.
It has the ideal golden scar on the front – near to the rear sight -, that extends beautifully towards the front, and along with the outstanding percentage of blue present on the top, the back, the side and the muzzle, it’s the best looking AK-47 in the world of skins, and this is why a collector agreed to pay $1M for it.
In fact, at the bottom of this page, you’ll find a section dedicated to listing other CS:GO skins sold for a lot of money. And you’re going to find a recurrent factor… practically all of them are blue gems!
This is, according to collectors, traders and players, the best look for a knife and AK-47. Nothing comes close to it, and the fact they’re selling for a lot more money in comparison to weapons with other finishes and patterns, completely confirms this. And collectors are ready to buy them, even if the owner is asking for high 5-6 figures… or even 7 figures.
2. Absolutely Minimum Wear and Tear
Having the #661 pattern is not enough to be worth $1,000,000, because if it has a lot of wear and tear, the value of the AK-47 | Case Hardened would decrease drastically. However, the most expensive CS:GO skin ever sold had an extremely low float value, rating it as Factory New, hence it had almost no wear and tear, allowing it to showcase all of its beauty.
The power of a low float value is extremely influential for the price of the skin. For example, an AK-47 | Case Hardened #661 (Minimal Wear) with x4 Titan Kato’14 (Holo) stickers was sold for $560,000 in 2021. And despite the most expensive skin ever sold not having the highly valuable Titan Kato’14 sticker, it sold for nearly x2 times more, and it all thanks to having a lower percentage of wear and tear.
Now, if the ST AK-47 | Case Hardened (Factory New) #661 had the x4 Titan Kato’14 (Holo) stickers, it’d have sold for more money. According to our estimations, the owner could have asked for an extra $60,000 to $70,000, placing the price at $1,060,000 to $1,070,000 USD.
3. StatTrak Rated
The most expensive skin ever has it all, because it’s also StatTrak rated. This feature adds an orange LED display to the AK-47, which tracks the number of confirmed kills by the owner. This simple yet cool add-on is enough to increase its value exponentially, since it’s pretty hard to unbox a StatTrak rated weapon in CS:GO (CS2).
Once again, let’s talk about the AK-47 | Case Hardened #661 (Minimal Wear) with x4 Titan Kato’14 (Holo) stickers. Due to being non-StatTrak, it couldn’t sell for as much as the top 1 Blue Gem AK-47, serving as a strong reminder on how influential the StatTrak add-on is for skins.
Therefore, this extra feature adds a lot of value to the skin, and hence it’s a reason why it was priced at $1,000,000 USD.
4. Extremely Low Probabilities of Unboxing It or Trading It Up
This rare combination of factors make it pretty much impossible to unbox this skin, or receive it during a trade-up. You’re better off playing online slots or betting on “0” on the online roulette, because the chances of getting this skin are below 0.0010%.
Let’s break it down:
- It’s rated as “Classified” hence it has a drop chance of 3.20%
- It’s Factory New, hence its drop chance is 3.00%
- It has the Case Hardened finish, which is a chance of 7.60%
- It has the pattern #661, which is a chance of 0.10%
- It has the StatTrak add-on, which is a chance of 10%
If we put it all together, we’ll get our chances of unboxing such a skin are 0.0000007296%, which is roughly 1 per every 137,061,404 you open. Virtually impossible to get, unless you get extremely lucky, which is why this skin is so expensive.
To put it into context, you’re more likely to win the lottery at 1 shot in approximately 14 million, whereas your chances of unboxing this skin are 1 in 137 million.
The unique case that offers this skin is the most expensive CS:GO case in the world, the CS:GO Weapon Case, priced at $115 at the time of writing this article. Furthermore, it’s also one of the scarcest containers in the CS:GO economy, with less than 300 available listings.
Based on this, it’s virtually impossible to unbox this skin, because even if you had the necessary budget to open the CS:GO Weapon Case 1,000 times to stand a chance at unlocking a Blue Gem AK-47 Factory New #661, there are not enough listings.
To prove how hard it is to obtain this skin, we fake opened the CS:GO Weapon Case 10,000 times. We spent over $1M dollars, and the best drop we got was a StatTrak™ AK-47
Case Hardened (Factory New) with no blue-gem pattern, worth just $1,200 USD. In the world of case opening, there are no guarantees, no matter how much money you pour into it.
While you can get it via the Weekly Prime Drop, the chances of obtaining it are just 1%. Odds are against you. Therefore, due to the extremely low probabilities of getting this skin via case opening or a trade-up, it well deserves its 7-figure price tag, and the right collectors and traders agree on this.
5. Collectors Ready to Buy It
Even if it was the rarest item in the entire universe, it’d be worthless if there wasn’t a demand for it. Fortunately, there’s a strong demand for such skins, especially since big sales have already been reported throughout the history of CS:GO. And this transaction is just the summit of a maturing and growing CS:GO economy, for now.
Compared to several years ago, when the CS:GO economy was in its infancy, none would have ever believed a skin would ever sell for so much money. Because almost none believed in the concept, yet.
However, with the passing of time and the inevitable development of the in-game items economy, CS:GO skins have become a lot more valuable, and it’s vastly due to the growing demand for them, especially coming from collectors and traders who have the necessary funds to buy extremely rare skins, and often engage in bidding wars to obtain their favorite items.
6. Executed by the Right Brokers
It’s worth noting some of the biggest collectors prefer to remain lowkey, hence getting access to them can be quite challenging if you’re not deeply involved in the CS:GO skins trading scene. Fortunately, the owner of the ST AK-47 | Case Hardened (Factory New) #661, had the brilliant idea of contacting the right brokers: “zipeL” and “roflm0nster”. They helped him to sell it to a blue gem collector, which without their help, would have never been able to find it.
This combination of factors – 4 related to the rarity and value of the skins, and 2 related to the demand and being able to find the right buyer – made it possible for us to witness the biggest sale in the history of CS:GO (CS2) skins.
Where Was the Most Expensive CS:GO Ever Sold?
This deal happened privately, and the owner and buyer preferred to remain anonymous. However, what we know is this sale was possible thanks to two famous blue gem collectors and brokers, “zipeL” and “roflm0nster”.
Being able to sell a skin at such a high price would not have been possible by simply listing it on the Steam Marketplace or a third-party CS:GO trading site, or just advertising it on Twitter (now X.com). Especially since it’s not easy to reach the right collectors, who prefer to remain lowkey.
This is why the owner had the good idea of contacting “zipeL” and “roflm0nster”, both recognized and popular for helping players sell their rare and exclusive items to the right collectors and traders, those with the necessary budget to acquire such expensive CS:GO skins.
Shortly after contacting them, “zipeL” and “roflm0nster” found a buyer in June 2024, recording the biggest sale in the history of CS:GO, and a new feat for the entire in-game items economy in the esports scene. Because so far now, no other in-game item has been sold for such a staggering sum.
Previously, “zipeL” also made it possible for the owner of the AK-47 | Case Hardened #661 (MW) x4 Titan Kato’ (Holo) 2014 to sell its skin for $560,000. Therefore, with a such record full of big transactions, “zipeL” was the perfect man for the job, and he provided it right once again.
Other Expensive CS:GO Skins Sold
While the ST AK-47 | Case Hardened #661 sold thanks to “zipeL” and “roflm0nster” is the most expensive skin ever sold, there are other skins that have sold for a lot of money, and here you have a list with them:
- AK-47 | Case Hardened #661 (MW) x4 Titan Kato’ (Holo) 2014: $560,000
- Karambit | Case Hardened (FN) #853: $233,000
- Talon Knife | Case Hardened (MW) #923: $220,000
- StatTrak M4A4 | Howl x4 $805 (FN) x4 iBUYPOWER Kato’ 2014: $215,000
- Karambit | Case Hardened (FT) #387: $169,000
- Skeleton Knife | Case Hardened (MW) #403: $100,000
- Sport Gloves | Pandora’s Box (Factory New): $61,000
Collectors are used to paying top dollar for the right CS:GO skins, as it’s shown by this list of examples, with items sold for as much as $230,000 USD. However, the sale of the Blue Gem AK-47 #661 was something else, because never before in the history of the game, such a deal took place until June 2024.
This transaction has completely changed the CS:GO economy, proving to the entire world in-game assets can be worth up to 7 figures, and there are legit buyers ready to purchase them. Because even though a Blue Gem AK-47 was sold for over $500,000 in 2021, the 1M deal completely overshadowed it as a new peak in the CS.GO economy.
This is a great evolution, because back in 2014, the most expensive CS:GO skin sold was a StatTrak M9 Bayonet | Crimson Web for $23,000 USD… and now we’re talking about a skin worth 43x times more. Such a great evolution in only 10 years.
Is There a Skin More Expensive than the Blue Gem ST AK-47 #661?
You might be wondering what skins are capable of selling for more than $1,000,000 in the foreseeable future, and the answer is the following: the Karambit | Case Hardened (Factory New) #387 owned by ‘青い王 (Newb Rage). It’s already priced at over $1M because the highest current bid for it is $1.5M, and the owner has rejected it.
The Chinese collector hasn’t disclosed why he has rejected such 7-figure offers, because he prefers to remain super lowkey. However, amongst the reasons can be he believes he will be able to sell it for more money in the future, or perhaps he just wants having the skin and doesn’t care about the money, which is true for many hardcore blue gem collectors.
If you’re wondering why this skin is even more valuable than the most expensive blue gem AK-47, the reasons are the following: it is harder to unbox it and collectors love knives. Just like we did with the most valuable AK-47, let’s break down the odds of unboxing the most expensive Blue Gem Karambit:
- It’s an Exceedingly Rare Special item, with a drop chance of 0.26%
- It’s Factory New, with a drop chance of 3.00%
- It’s a Karambit, with a drop chance of 20.00%
- It has the Case Hardened finish, with a drop chance of 7.60%
- It has the pattern #387, with a drop chance of 0.10%
- It is not StatTrak rated, with a drop chance of 90%
Putting it all together, the chances of getting this skin are 0.0000001067%, which is roughly 1 in 937 million. It’s considerably much harder to obtain it than the ultimate AK-47 Blue Gem, and hence it’s currently valued at $1.5M, and since the owner has already rejected this offer, we can expect to increase its price in the future. Some analysts are already pricing it at $2,000,000 USD.
All in all, as of now, the ST Karambit | Case Hardened (Factory New) #661 remains as the most expensive CS2 skin ever sold, and based on the current market, the existing items and the bids and offers, we can expect it to retain its title for several months to come.
Final Words
Now you understand why the ultimate AK-47 Blue Gem was sold for $1,000,000 USD, and also how different factors heavily influence the prices of CS:GO skins, and how important brokers are for fulfilling these massive deals in the world of in-game items.