CS: GO Key Trading Ban Meets Anger on Steam, Laughter on Reddit

CS: GO players may no longer trade container keys, and players on Steam and Reddit met the news with wildly different reactions. | Source: Valve/Steam

• Valve banned Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players from trading container keys.
• The company defended the action by pointing to alleged problems with money laundering.
• Gamers on the CS: GO Steam group were divided, but the Reddit page was just laughing.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players may no longer trade container keys, now that Valve has banned the practice to crack down on fraudulent networks abusing the CS: GO system. The change was announced in a blog post, with the changes coming into effect immediately.

Previously, container keys could be bought from the CS: GO marketplace and traded on Steam, where online crime rings allegedly used the keys to launder their ill-gotten assets. According to Valve, the platform became so popular among criminals that “nearly all key trades” were connected to these fraudulent groups.

‘Fick Valve’: Steam Users Divided Over Trading Ban

The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community on Steam has been split right down the middle about the merits of the update. On one end of the polarization sit those who seem to think that this ban is the work of an evil being, destined to lose Valve all the money in the world and perhaps even kill off Steam altogether.

The negative reactions have ranged from the angry-but-futile “Fick valve,” which we can only assume was misspelled to avoid the swearing filter, to the slightly more measured DayZ comparison:

“Take away more, add nothing. looking/feeling like pre-FTP dayz here,” one user said.

The other side of the split in the community seems to welcome the change with open arms. Many players seem to realize that key trading has been an issue for a long time, one that absolutely needed to be addressed.

“Great change and yes it is a shame it will affect legitimate users, but they felt it had to be done. We need to be okay with it,” another CS: GO player wrote.

CS: GO Reddit Group Laughs Off the Announcement

In stark contrast to the discussion going on over at Steam, the CS: GO Reddit page seems to be determined to turn the change into a joke.

Memes were the obvious first reaction, but hilarious screenshots of insane looking comments about the change also seem popular.