Counter-Strike 2 breaks various CSGO skins, stickers and knives in limited test beta

Calum Patterson
cs2 skins

A number of cosmetic items from CS:GO, including weapon skins, knives and stickers, are faulty in Counter-Strike 2’s limited test beta, having different appearances or missing animations.

Although it is only in beta currently, millions of CS:GO players are looking at Counter-Strike 2 as the future of their favorite game, and some of them will be primarily concerned with the appearance of skins and stickers.

This is because all of these skins have a real monetary value, and some can be worth hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands.

While all skins and other items have been transferred to CS2, their implementation – right now – is not exactly flawless. In various ways, numerous items have been altered or broken in the transition.

Weapon skin errors in Counter-Strike 2

Pattern-based skins

Starting with weapon skins, the most alarming issue is that ‘patterns’ on some patter-based skins are not the same. In CS:GO, some specific patterns would be worth a lot more, due to the placement of certain artwork on the weapon.

Although some patterns have been transferred correctly to CS2, some are totally wrong. This is because pattern-based skins use the new weapon models, resulting in the pattern being moved and adjusted slightly. This could temporarily devalue these items until they are (hopefully) fixed.

While the developers may not have considered this to be a major issue, specific skin patterns can impact the price of a skin by hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Wear values (float)

Another issue that is affecting weapon skins, but also knives and gloves, is the implementation of wear values.

In some cases, it appears that weapons are displaying in flawless 0.00 float all of the time, despite them not actually being ‘factory new’ skins.

In other cases, the wear is applied differently, perhaps again due to the new weapon models.

Sticker problems in Counter-Strike 2

Moving on to the stickers, there are two main issues right now in CS2’s limited test build. The first is that holo effects are not working in game.

In CS:GO, holo stickers would move and reflect the light as the weapon model was moved around in game. In CS2, currently, they are totally static, and do not move with the light, unless inspecting or reloading the weapon.

Other issues with stickers include their application to weapons, with the sizes looking wrong. In some cases, the stickers appear far too large, and stretch over the weapon.

While it’s likely that these issues are simply bugs, they may be of real concern to plays who own items with expensive stickers applied.

Knife animations

For the most part, Counter-Strike 2 has greatly improved the appearance of many knives, particularly doppler knives.

However, while their appearance is unchanged or improved, there is a bug with animations. Currently, inspecting knives is limited to only one singular animation, whereas in CS:GO, many knives had two animations, a common and rare inspect.

Karambit blue gem knife
This ‘blue gem’ karambit has an estimated value of over $1.5 million – in CS:GO.

Some players have also argued that ‘Case Hardened’ knives, and Case Hardened skins in general, look worse in CS2. This could impact their price, as ‘blue gem’ Case Hardened skins are typically the most expensive in all of CS:GO.

It remains to be seen if Valve will address these issues with skins, stickers, and knives, but their priority currently is likely to be on the gameplay, and any bugs related to that, before focusing on cosmetics.

For players with a lot of valuable items, though, it will be a worrying wait for updates.

About The Author

Calum is Dexerto's Managing Editor, based in Scotland. Joining Dexerto in 2017, Calum has years of experience covering esports, gaming and online entertainment, and now leads the team to deliver the best coverage in these areas. An expert on all things Twitch and gaming influencers, he's also an expert in popular shooters like Apex Legends, CS2 and Call of Duty. You can contact Calum at calum.patterson@dexerto.com.