When Valve’s new crafting update for Counter-Strike 2 sent skin prices crashing overnight, it didn’t just shake a virtual market — it exposed the fragility of one of gaming’s most mature digital economies. From university players to seasoned traders, everyone felt the ripple. This story unpacks how a single design change upended years of speculation,…

The secondary market for Counter-Strike weapon skins, once seen as one of gaming’s most stable virtual economies, plunged this week after developer Valve Corp. introduced a new crafting system that sharply increased the supply of rare items.