Weapon Skins History: The Oldest CS:GO Skins & Cases - Hellcase Blog

Modern CS:GO is unimaginable without skins. Cosmetic items have been an integral element of the game since they were introduced and have impacted CS:GO’s massive popularity growth worldwide.

Weapon skins have evolved alongside the game for more than a decade now, and although newly added skins are significantly different from what they were in the early days, the old CS:GO skins still find their admirers.

In this article, we will go over the history of the CS:GO skins and discover the oldest ones.

What are CS:GO Skins?

CS:GO skins are in-game cosmetic items that change the appearance of the default models of weapons and agents. Some of them are made by Valve, and some are getting picked from the Steam Workshop. Skins come in various patterns, floats, and rarity types that impact their price. In terms of rarity, for example, there are seven types of skins: Consumer, Industrial, Mil-spec, Restricted, Classified, Covert, and Contraband.

Cosmetics haven’t been around since the beginning, though. Let’s dive into history and learn about the oldest CS:GO skins.

Weapon Skins History

The history of CS:GO weapon skins starts in 2013, a year after Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was officially released. The Arms Deal update blessed the players with the first CS:GO skins that you could get by opening weapon skin cases with case-specific keys. With the new update, players got a chance to receive a free case after finishing a match on a VAC-secured server. This mechanic still works for everyone. Free cosmetics are getting dropped upon completing matches in official game modes.

With the Arms Deal update, Valve also announced that players will be able to upload their own weapon finishes and custom knife models through the CS:GO Workshop. Most up-voted skins would get a chance to appear in future CS:GO updates. In 2014, developers released the first weapon case with community-made finishes, the Winter Offensive Weapon Case. It featured 12 weapon skins created by the community, including M4A4 | Asiimov.

Along with the first gun skins from the CS:GO Weapon Case , Valve brought the melee skins into the game: Karambit, Bayonet, Gut Knife, M9 Bayonet, and Flip Knife. Every style of the knife skin comes in one of the thirteen finishes: Vanilla, Blue Steel, Boreal Forest, Case Hardened, Crimson Web, Fade, Forest DDPAT, Night, Safari Mesh, Scorched, Slaughter, Stained, and Urban Masked.

Apart from that, StatTrak™ modules also came along, giving you an up-to-date record of every kill you get with that weapon. StatTrak™ also first appeared in the CS:GO Weapon Case, meaning that even the oldest CS:GO skin can have this feature. It is a great way to show off but bear in mind that teamkills do not count (anyway, team damage is bad, don’t be that guy!).

Before 2017, there was no information available about the real odds of obtaining different tier items by opening CS:GO weapon skin cases. However, due to the Chinese Ministry of Culture’s Online Gaming Operating Regulations and supervising requests, Valve was obliged to reveal the odds.

Here is the ratio data Valve displayed publicly in 2017:

• Mil-spec to Restricted is 1:5.
• Mil-spec to Classified is 1:25.
• Mil-spec to Covert is 1:125.
• Mil-spec to Rare Special Item is 2:625.
• Normal to StatTrak™ is 1:10.

With this ratio data, we can calculate the odds of getting all the rarity tier items in percentage:

• Mil-spec – 79.92%.
• Restricted – 15.98%.
• Classified – 3.2%.
• Covert – 0.64%.
• Rare Special Item – 0.26%.

Now you know a bit of CS:GO skins history and what are your chances of getting a knife skin from a case. Let’s get back to the topic though. To find out what is the oldest CS:GO skin, we will figure out which cases came first.

The First CS:GO Cases

There are three types of CS:GO weapon skin cases: Black, Yellow, and eSports. Both black and eSports contain skins made by Valve, but a portion of the latter’s key profit supports the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive eSports scene. Yellow cases consist of community-made finishes picked from the Steam Workshop. A portion of the yellow cases’ profit goes to the creators of the skins that made it into the game.

The first-ever weapon skin case was released nine years ago. Among the pioneers are:

• CS:GO Weapon Case
• eSports 2013 Case
• Operation Bravo Case
• Winter Offensive Weapon Case
• Huntsman Weapon Case , and others.

Now we will take a look inside the CS:GO Weapon Case and overview its cosmetics.

CS:GO Weapon Case

Valve introduced the CS:GO Weapon Case, also known as Container series 1, in August, 2013. It consists of nine first CS:GO skins ever, including the well-known AWP | Lightning Strike and AK-47 | Case Hardened.

What is in the CS:GO Weapon Case?

Featuring nine weapon skins, CS:GO Weapon Case added colors to the game. Here are all the released skins:

• MP7 | Skulls.

A mass grave that fits snugly in the palm of your hands.

Boo! Halloween and the spooky season are long over, but this skull-themed skin is a good fit for your MP7 all year long. MP7 | Skulls is decorated with a black-and-gray pattern and has a dark purple magazine.

• SG 553 | Ultraviolet.

Elegant design paired with brutal intent.

SG 553 | Ultraviolet is a great option for those who like it simple: the weapon is spray-painted with only two solid colors. While the receiver and the magazine are black, the rest of the gun’s parts are painted purple. SG 553 | Ultraviolet is available in all conditions.

• AUG | Wings.

An eagle looks majestic until it’s clawing your eyes out.

This AUG is decorated with dry-transfer gray-and-white decals of eagle feathers on the back half of the body. Its magazine is painted grey, while the gun’s scope and barrel remain untouched.

• M4A1-S | Dark Water.

Water gives life, but it can also take it…

Over a chrome base coat, charcoal metallic paint in an aquatic-stripe pattern has been applied. It has a solid black barrel and a portion of the buttstock. The skin is only available as a Minimal Wear or Field-Tested variant.

• USP-S | Dark Water.

Water gives life, but it can also take it…

USP-S | Dark Water is another skin from the eponymous skin family. Chrome-based coat of the pistol is decorated with a wavy line design in matte-grey color.

• Glock-18 | Dragon Tattoo.

In a fairy tale, the knight always slays the dragon… but this is the real world – Valeria Jenner, Revolutionary.

This skin has a grey metallic base coat. The weapon’s slide is adorned with a Chinese dragon decal performed in the traditional Asian tattoo style.

• Desert Eagle | Hypnotic.

You’re not getting sleepy, you’re passing out from blood loss.

Hypnotic indeed, isn’t it? The pearl-based coat of the oldest CS:GO skin for Desert Eagle is decorated with a graphic pattern painted through a circle-shaped stencil. Pattern variations that have the circle’s center located in the center of the pistol’s slide are considered to be the most valuable ones.

• AK-47 | Case Hardened.

A little color never hurt anyone.

We truly believe AK-47 | Case Hardened is one of the best skins for this riffle out there. The hardened metal components of it are stained with blue, yellow, and purple colors. It is still extremely popular due to the huge diversity of its pattern. The more space blue areas take on top of the receiver, the more the skin tends to cost.

• AWP | Lightning Strike.

Sometimes you don’t need to strike the same place twice.

One shot, one kill. Lightning Strike is the oldest CS:GO skin for AWP and it is perfect for striking the enemy team unexpectedly. The body of this weapon is painted purple metallic and presents a realistic lightning bolt rushing through the sniper rifle. This skin is can be obtained only in Factory New and Minimal Wear variants due to its low float value range.

Although these are the oldest CS:GO weapon skins, players appreciate them to this day. You can even see pro players use some of the Arms Deal collection skins in tournaments.

Oldest CS:GO skins used by pro players

• Zywhoo (Team Vitality) — AWP | Lighting Strike.

Here is one of Zywoo’s highlights from the ESL Pro League 13 Group Stage. In the match against FaZe Clan, he performed a nasty 1v3 clutch with AWP | Lightning Strike.

Other pro players who own AWP | Lightning Strike: Ax1Le (Cloud9), cadiaN (Heroic), Es3tag (Ninjas in Pyjamas), karrigan (FaZe Clan).

• s1mple (NAVI) — AK-47 | Case Hardened.

Three smoothest one taps made with AK-47 | Case Hardened led s1mple and his team to round victory in the match against FaZe Clan at the BLAST Premier Spring Final 2021.

Other pro players who own AK-47 | Case Hardened: dev1ce (Astralis), Rain (FaZe Clan), KSCERATO (FURIA).

• GuardiaN (ex-NAVI) — Desert Eagle | Hypnotic.

NAVI faced fnatic in the ESL ESEA Pro League Season 2 Grand Final. On Train, GuardiaN secured the eco round win with Desert Eagle | Hypnotic.

Other pro players who own Desert Eagle | Hypnotic: Zeus (ex-NAVI), chrisJ (ex-MOUZ).

To Wrap Up!

Now you know what are the oldest CS:GO weapon skins. If you like it old-fashioned, any skin mentioned in our article will be a great addition to your inventory. Check out our blog for more information on CS:GO skins, cases, collections, and stickers.

Oldest CS:GO Skins FAQs