Twitch’s crackdown on gambling continues as the company has announced a ban on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) skin gambling sponsorships.
In the Community Guidelines on its website, Twitch has updated the terms to include CSGO skin gambling.
“No, promotion or sponsorship of skins gambling is prohibited under our policy,” Twitch says in response to a question asking if skins gambling was allowed on the platform.
The idea of gambling on CSGO skins has long been a practice for players and streamers of the game. And while it’s only sponsorships that are currently banned on the platform, it could be the first step to further action against a highly unregulated area.
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Recently, one “new player” opened a 387 Pattern Blue Gem Karambit skin that is worth well over $100,000. In another instance, Dr. Disrespect, one of the biggest streamers in the world, opened an M9 Bayonet skin – a Doppler, in Factory New Sapphire — that has been known to be worth up to $20,000.
In addition to those two examples, there have been numerous streams from creators where they spend countless amounts of money opening CSGO cases with the hope of getting a valuable skin. One such example of it going poorly is when streamer ohnePixel spent $130,000 on cases only to get $4,000 worth of returns. It’s ultimately publicizing what is essentially gambling but with no real control or regulation over what can become an addictive habit for players, resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars, if not more.
Insider Gaming has reached out to Twitch for comment on the policy update.
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