This new CSGO skin is based on a real-life counter-terrorist

William Davis Published 27/09/2021

Operation Riptide reminds players that conflicts aren’t exclusive to video games. 

A new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive agent skin appears to be a tribute to a real French counter-terrorist. The new exceptional agents collection includes Officer Jacques Beltram, a CT skin meant to represent the French gendarmerie. His name, story, and appearance all point to real-life gendarme Arnaud Beltrame, who traded himself for a hostage during a 2018 terrorist attack in France.

In his official flavor text, Jacques is described as a Legion of Honor recipient who traded himself for a hostage at an unspecified attack. During a 2018 terror attack, the real Arnaud Beltrame heroically traded places with the final hostage. After a four-hour standoff with the terrorists, Beltrame passed away in the struggle. The country celebrated his service with a formal ceremony at France’s military district. Beltrame posthumously received a promotion to colonel and entrance into the Legion of Honour, France’s highest military order. 

While clearly an homage to the real Beltrame, Jacques Beltram’s lore doesn’t match up perfectly with the French hero. Jacques is described as “a hero, a single father, and a passionate consumer of pain au chocolate at all times of day.” The real Arnaud Beltrame married in 2016 with no children. There are no records of his pastry preferences, though Beltrame probably enjoyed a pain au chocolat every now and again. Even with the differences, French CSGO players likely appreciate the nod towards French military history.

How to get Arnaud Beltrame skin in CSGO

Officer Jacques Beltram is an exceptional rarity agent skin for Operation Riptide. To earn his appearance in-game, players must trade seven Riptide stars for a chance at any of the five exceptional agents. Agent skins do not have a float value the way gun skins do, so there’s no need to worry about opening a battle-scarred Beltram. The menu for the Arnaud Beltrame skin is located in the Riptide operation shop. 

Each roll costs seven Riptide stars, which players earn by completing Operation Riptide missions or buying them outright. Each week, Riptide gives players a bunch of new missions to complete. Earning the maximum ten stars is tricky, but dedicated players can top up their reserve for 49 cents a star.

Read Also

Esports Betting

MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it Michael Hassall The Esports World Cup 2026 has officially passed its midway point and viewership figures for the tournament have surpassed many expectations so far, as per Esports Charts. The viewership tracking site revealed new statistics for the event on Aug. 6, showcasing just how many games had set new records in viewership, including one name leading the way in views: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. MLBB leads the viewership charts with the ...

Counter-Strike

CS2 at the EWC 2026 Preview: Odds, Details, Predictions and More Owen Harsono Top-tier Counter-Strike action returns at the Esports World Cup, as 32 of the best teams will take the trip to Paris to compete for millions of dollars. If you’re looking to watch the event, here’s everything you need to know and which teams to keep an eye on. The Esports World Cup is one of the largest CS2 events if we’re looking at prize pools, as $2,000,000 will be distributed ...

News

Opinion: Is Esports Tracing the Same Evolutionary Path As Traditional Sports? Cecilia Ciocchetti What happens when an industry compresses centuries of sporting evolution into less than a decade or two? Communities become global audiences overnight, rivalries spread through social media within minutes, and tournaments turn into entertainment products faster than ever before. And so what took traditional sports centuries to build has taken esports a fraction of that. From local communities to sold out arenas, and from informal matches to Olympic-style events, the ...

Counter-Strike

BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-final predictions: who’s making it to the grand final? Owen Harsono The top four teams we’re seeing at the BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-finals are far from what anyone would expect before the tournament began, but here we are. We’re only three matches from crowning a winner, so let’s take a look at the best BLAST Bounty semi-final predictions for both upcoming matchups. Starting the semi-finals off is a banger of a series between FaZe Clan and Team Spirit, which is one ...

Counter-Strike

We Ranked The Top 5 Most Hated CS2 Maps Owen Harsono If you’re a Counter-Strike player, you probably have that one map you always ban first in every Premier game — and you're not alone as almost everyone has one too. Below, we’ll take a look at the most hated maps in Counter-Strike history and explain why they are disliked by the community at large. Anubis is one of the newer releases in the Counter-Strike 2 map pool, but it has ...

Counter-Strike

The Top 10 Best Clutches in Counter-Strike History Ranked Owen Harsono Pulling off an impossible clutch is one of the greatest hits of dopamine any Counter-Strike 2 player can ever feel. However, pulling them off at the highest level can be a little tricky since everyone is so coordinated. That’s exactly why mind-blowing clutches are remembered forever. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the 10 best clutches in Counter-Strike history. We’re opening the list with former mousesports ...

Counter-Strike

Is the CS2 Esports Nations Cup Going To Be a Huge Disappointment? Owen Harsono The Esports World Cup recently rolled out a new tournament series called the Esports Nations Cup, where participants can only compete under their country’s flag — just like the FIFA World Cup. 2026 is going to be the first time the Esports Nations Cup plays out, and though there was a lot of hype surrounding it, there are concerns it might fall short of expectations. The qualifiers for the CS2 ...