Skins have become a huge part of some of the biggest first-person shooters, but Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Valorant go in very different directions with their respective skins. And this has produced some strong opinions on which skins are better.
Some prefer one game’s aesthetics while others prefer the opposite, and Michael “shroud” Grzesiek has made his own tastes known. While the popular streamer is known as a former member of Cloud9’s pro CSGO roster, shroud prefers the look and feel of Valorant skins to the skins in CSGO.
“For sure Valorant,” shroud responded when asked which game’s skins he preferred. “You look at CSGO skins now and you just can’t believe it, it’s like a joke.”
It’s unclear what exactly shroud sees as a “joke” when it comes to CSGO skins. He was given food in the middle of the discussion and never actually returned to his thoughts on the problems with CSGO skins.
CSGO skins can normally be obtained in one of three ways. Players have the chance of getting a randomly dropped item in CSGO after playing a game, skins included. They can also obtain them by opening loot boxes or by buying them from other players through the Steam Community Market. Some in-game events can also offer the ability to obtain skins.
Valorant doesn’t have CSGO’s loot box approach to skins. The game sells them individually and as bundles, and also has regular seasonal battle passes.
Valorant skins are often much more elaborate than CSGO skins. In CSGO, skins are effectively a paint job on a regular gun that makes them stand out more. In Valorant, high-end skins can make guns look completely different with custom animations, such as the Elderflame set turning the guns into literal dragons.
While it’s unclear what exactly shroud dislikes about CSGO’s skins, it likely is a matter of the game’s monetization system, not the way the skins look and feel. shroud has actually been critical of Valorant’s elaborate animations and designs on its custom skins, and has questioned whether they might negatively impact the gameplay.
There is currently no way to trade Valorant skins. The only possible way to transfer ownership of skins is to transfer an entire account, which is expressly forbidden by Riot Games.
Though loot boxes are a huge part of CSGO and many other games, most online multiplayer games don’t allow players to trade items. This is unlikely to change either, as Valve has faced serious legal trouble on multiple occasions and other publishers have faced questions from governments regarding the legality of loot boxes.
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