For those unfamiliar with Counter-Strike, the idea of “case farming” may sound like a way to quickly collect a lot of in-game items, but it is much more than just farming. Many people may not realise how lucrative the case farming industry is, or how large some case farming operations are. The case farming scene in CS2 is very large, with several companies using hundreds of thousands of bots, earning millions of dollars. Some sources report that case farming in CS2 is even more lucrative than cryptocurrency mining, although the source is unconfirmed and there is no way to know for sure.
Although it can make a lot of money for some users, case farming is potentially one of the dumbest things you can do in CS2. Not only does it ruin the experience of others, undermine the integrity of the game’s economy, and put you at risk of lawsuits, but it’s also a great way to get your Steam account banned. As of today, 9 September 2024, more than 300,000 accounts related to case farming have been blocked — a wave of bans that is likely to bankrupt several case farmers and severely disrupt the operations of others.
How Do Case Farms Work?
Without going into details, case farms essentially work like this:
1 Case farmers create a network of numerous computers, similar to a Bitcoin mining rig.
2 The computers are run by bots that look like real players and play CS2 24/7.
3 Every week, bots receive cases, just like regular CS2 players.
4 After the bots accumulate a certain number of cases, the farmer sells them for real money and cashes in the profit.
5 With hundreds of thousands of bots in operation, this is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.
How Much Money Do Case Farmers Make?
According to one of the largest bot farm developers, all case farmers in the world earn a total of $600,000 per month. However, that’s just for one app, and since there are countless others out there, it’s safe to assume that this industry is bringing in over $1,000,000 per month, damaging the CS2 economy and player experience.
Why Is This Bad?
There are several reasons why case farming is bad. First, it spoils the gaming experience for many players. Case farmers single-handedly destroyed the Flying Scotsman mode in CS:GO, and also became a headache for everyone who tried to play Deathmatch on Asian CS2 servers. Additionally, case farmers are causing many problems for the CS2 economy. By adding hundreds of thousands of cases to the supply every month, these farmers are destroying the supply and demand ratio, driving down case prices to levels that have wiped out thousands of investors and made weekly drops almost worthless. Additionally, case farmers have been the target of multiple waves of bans recently, which means they are diverting Valve’s attention away from fighting cheats and helping to make the CS2 cheating problem even worse.
Conclusion
The case farming industry in CS2 is one of the most lucrative and morally reprehensible operations in the entire gaming industry. It ruins the gaming experience of millions of players and destroys the CS2 case market, lining the pockets of already wealthy people who don’t care about CS2 or skins. We welcome Valve’s recent crackdown on case farming and hope that they can stamp out the practice for good before it gets out of hand.
