What Do the New CS:GO Paid Changes Mean for Players?

As one of the most well-funded eSports game of all time , there's a lot of pressure for CS:GO to prove its legitimacy. Like any video game, however, playing online means problems with cheaters and hackers. At the very least, these bad actors can ruin the experience for others, at the worst, they can hurt the game's overall perception and popularity.

It's this understanding that has formed the backbone of Valve's new approach to how CS:GO online is partitioned, and if successful, it could affect real positive change.

The New Changes

After years of offering a fully open F2P game, Valve realized that being so open was causing problems. Essentially, with no money on the line, trolls and cheaters were free to burn through as many accounts as possible and ruin things for other players. To combat this issue, CS:GO has adopted a new "Prime" tier of membership, where players need to put down $14.99 to enter a specialized pay-only online market.

At its core, this approach aims to take the title closer to the level of security seen in international online casino sites like オンラインスロットゲーム . While the titles on these websites aren't video games, with slots like Rainbow Riches, Reel King, and Eye of Horus, they do combine paid systems with powerful security measures to keep everything above board. Though CS:GO can't hope to quite match the online casino market in this regard, the game can at least aim to narrow the gap, and this is exactly what their new system hopes to do.

Will it Work?

To the naysayers out there, the new Prime tier might seem a simple cash-grab to swindle players. Though it's true this isn't great for users without methods of payment, the logic behind separating the players in such a way is solid. Unless a player is rich, constantly having to put down money for new accounts is not going to be a worthwhile pursuit. Though there are likely still those with the financial means to continue down this road, they're relatively few.

The other level to this ban is that Valve should also be able to tie negative accounts to certain methods of payments like credit cards and online wallets. If you cheat and make an account with the same payment details, the company has another way to identify who you are. While, again, there are methods around this block, they're clumsy and frustrating to deal with, which will serve as an additional deterrent.

No matter how much you invest financially in CS:GO, there are still ways to play . If you don't or can't pay for prime, then you're still going to be playing with much of the same group you already were. If you do invest in the new system, then you should, hopefully, experience fewer cheaters and trolls.

Ultimately, this creates a better system for everyone, and might even result in a more developed overall environment and larger prize pools for tournaments thanks to extra funding. Whatever happens, it's good to see Valve trying new things, to keep the game from falling to the dark side of the player base. Let's just hope it works out.