Microtransactions have become commonplace in the modern gaming landscape. Seeing a video game release with loot boxes that grant random skins is a common sight that is highly divisive. What many players forget is that pricy cosmetics are nothing new. Heading to the community-driven Steam Marketplace is proof of this.
Some skins on the Steam Marketplace, not to be confused with the actual store, can go for thousands of dollars due to their rarity. To see how far this rabbit hole goes, here are the ten most expensive digital items one can find in the Steam Marketplace. This list will only include items that have current listings on the Steam Marketplace, and the item must have been sold within the last six months. Prices are listed in USD.
10 AWP | Medusa (Field-Tested) (CS:GO, $1,660.37)
Some of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's rarest skins are for the fan-favorite AWP sniper rifle. Due to the low chance of obtaining certain skins from CS:GO loot crates, some of the game's skins can go for thousands of dollars.
This is the case for the Field-Tested AWP | Medusa skin that is currently listed for $1,660.37. The latest purchase of this skin occurred on October 7 of this year for $1,657.70.
9 M9 Bayonet | Lore (Minimal Wear) (CS:GO, $1,682.99)
Knife skins are a highly sought after commodity for certain CS:GO players and skin collectors. Due to their rarity from loot crates, they serve as some of the Steam Marketplace's most expensive items.
A great example of this is the Minimal Wear M9 Bayonet | Lore knife skin. Currently listed for $1,682.99, this skin is easily one of the most expensive items on the Steam Marketplace currently. This knife was last sold on October 8 for $1498.48.
8 Sticker | compLexity Gaming (Holo) | Katowice 2014 (CS:GO, $1,720)
Stickers are unique emblems that can be attached to weapons in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Most weapons can have four stickers on them at a time, although the R8 Revolver and G3SG1 can each use five.
One of the most expensive stickers in the game belongs to the holographic variant of the Sticker | compLexity Gaming (Holo) | Katowice 2014, a sticker that was only available during the Katowice 2014 CS:GO tournament. It has never been made available since, making this one of CS:GO's rarest stickers.
Currently, this sticker is listed for $1,720. This sticker was last sold on September 27 for $1,719.97, showing that some collectors are still interested in this item years later.
7 Sticker | kennyS (Gold) | Boston 2018 (CS:GO, $1,749.18)
On a similar note, the Sticker | kennyS (Gold) | Boston 2018 for CS:GO is yet another extremely rare sticker that was only available during the G2 Esports event at Boston 2018. This sticker was autographed by Esports player Kenny Schrub during the event and digitilized for players to purchase. Half of the sales from this sticker go towards Kenny Schrub and any affiliated organizations.
This autographed sticker currently goes for $1,749.18. It was last purchased on July 27 for $1,563.26. While that seems like a large time gap, over 180 CS:GO collectors are interested in purchasing the item for over $1,000. Saying this item is highly sought after by collectors is an understatement.
6 Skeleton Knife | Crimson Web (Field-Tested) (CS:GO, $1,778.91)
Added during the Operation Shattered Web update for CS:GO in 2019, the Skeleton Knife | Crimson Web (Field-Tested) knife skin is one of the most expensive knives in the game. Its absurdly low drop chance and unique spider-web design contribute greatly to this skin's high demand amongst collectors.
Should someone wish to obtain this unique blade for themself, be prepared to shell out $1,778.91 for a Field-Tested version. Interestingly, the Factory New version is listed as higher with a value of $1,858.54, but the last purchase of a Factory New variant was on September 29 for $765.29—nowhere near the current asking price. As for the Field-Tested version, it was last sold on October 11 for $1,249.83, although one was sold for much more on October 9 for $1,642.23.
5 Driver Gloves | Overtake (Factory New) (CS:GO, $1,780.58)
These black and brown leather gloves for CS:GO are one of the most expensive items one can buy on the Steam Marketplace. A pair of the Factory New Driver Gloves | Overtake currently go for $1,780.58. A pair of these gloves was sold on October 11 for $1,200.01.
4 Sticker | 3DMAX (Holo) | Katowice 2014 (CS:GO, $1,850.20)
Similarily to the compLexity Gaming (Holo) sticker from 2014, the Sticker | 3DMAX (Holo) | Katowice 2014 remains one of CS:GO's rarest items. Since Stickers were released just over a month before the EMS One Katowice 2014 championship, not many players took interest in these stickers. As with most old items, collectors started to gain interest in collecting these rare items from years prior. What makes these series of stickers so iconic, though, is the controversy between Esports teams iBUYPOWER and NetCodeGuides.
iBuyPower was favored to win the match against NetCodeGuides but lost with a resounding score of 4 to 16. An investigation by Esports journalist Richard Lewis ensued, where he eventually discovered both teams were match fixing to meet gambling bets they made on skins. NetCodeGuides's owner Casey Foster and six players involved in the scandal, excluding iBuyPower's former Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham, were banned by Valve in January of 2015. These players would later be unbanned by the Electronic Sports League (or ESL) in 2017, a decision many Esports fans and agreed with. DreamHack would follow suit soon after.
Of course, every revelation pertaining to CS:GO's first major match fixing scandal would cause this rare sticker to rise in demand. The ramifications of that can be felt to this day, as nearly every sticker tied to the Katowice 2014 championship ranges from $450 to well over $2,000 on third-party websites. The 3DMAX (Holo) sticker is currently the most expensive of the bunch on the Steam Marketplace, selling for $1,850.20. The 3DMAX (Holo) sticker was last sold on September 25 for $1,831.96.
3 AWP | The Prince (Field-Tested) (CS:GO, $1,850.20)
The reason why the AWP | The Prince (Field-Tested) skin is so expensive is much less intricate than the last entry. Simply put, The Prince variant of the AWP is one of the rarest skins in CS:GO. It is mainly due to how new it is, releasing in November of 2019.
Those that want to rep this beautiful red and gold skin should expect to spend $1,850.20 to obtain this skin. The Prince skin was last sold on October 13 for $1,750.15.
2 AK-47 | Wild Lotus (Field-Tested) (CS:GO, $1,873.40)
Yet another Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin, the Field-Tested AK-47 | Wild Lotus is easily the rarest AK-47 skin the game has to offer. Introduced in Operation Shattered Web, this skin's unique green base and orange lotus flowers make for an appearance that few guns have.
That unique appearance has drawn the eye of some collectors looking to obtain this skin from others. Currently, the Wild Lotus skin runs for $1,873.40 on the Steam Marketplace. It was last sold on October 4 for $1,770.00.
1 The Olive Branch - Pan (PUBG, $1,873.40)
Yup, the most expensive item on the Steam Marketplace isn't a CS:GO skin, nor is it a Team Fortress 2 hat. It's a pan. More specifically, it is the infamous Olive Branch pan skin for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, more frequently referred to as PUBG.
What makes this skin so coveted is just how rare it is. The probability of obtaining the Olive Branch skin is equal to obtaining 555 knife skins in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. For non-Counter-Strike players, that is around a 0.0009% drop chance from a loot crate. Anyone that has obtained this skin from a loot crate can consider themselves infinitely luckier than any other PUBG player.
The current asking price for this skin is $1,873.40 on the Steam Marketplace. It was last sold on October 13 for $1,566.04.