Valve’s “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” has lacked one major feature from its predecessors for quite some time now. The ability to “spray” pictures on the walls was a fan-favorite, and many players spent a lot of time designing their own logos and sharing spray designs online. We’ve seen some entertaining sprays as well, such as ones “pretending” to be opposing players.
And now, Valve have decided to bring sprays back into the game, but the announcement came as a bit of a bittersweet one for fans. Under the new system, sprays are only available as premium purchases in the game’s store, and they are even limited in use.
Purchasing a spray allows a player to use it up to 50 times, after which they would have to re-buy it if they wanted to continue using it. At the same time, sprays are no longer freely customizable, and players are forced to use from pre-selected designs that have been curated by Valve.
This means that we won’t see any more hilarious designs spread all over the maps, and there certainly won’t be any active communities for sharing sprays like there were before. Players are understandably disappointed by the decision, and some have dug deeper into the situation, claiming that it’s unfair for many reasons.
One example that’s regularly brought up in discussions is the possibility to use sprays as a limited “wall hack”. A player can spray a picture on a transparent surface – such as a window – and then move to the other side of the surface, where the spray will be invisible.
The player, however, will be concealed behind their own spray, allowing them to freely pick off at least one unsuspecting enemy. Combined with the fact that this feature is only available to those who spend money on the game, many have expressed strong disappointment with Valve’s move.
There are also some even more cynical opinions among the game’s fans, such as those who suspect that this is nothing more but a ploy from Valve to make themselves look good while continuing to monetize sprays. According to a theory that’s gained a lot of attention, Valve are likely going to announce that they’re making sprays unlimited use in the near future, but they will still cost money.
That way, according to some fans, the company will be able to claim that they “listen” to the community, while also continuing to do the exact thing that got them in so much trouble in the first place. It wouldn’t even hurt their profits if they keep releasing more and more spray designs in the future too.
Meanwhile, Valve have come under fire from some organizations and even authority figures due to their alleged promotion of gambling in their games. While there is no real gambling as far as actual money is concerned, there is an active scene for betting on “Counter-Strike” matches with in-game “skins”, which can then be exchanged for Steam store credit.
At the same time, players can spend real money inside “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” itself, buying a chance to win one of the various skins available. This has further made the situation bad for the developer in the eyes of some regulators, and there is a strong suspicion among fans that things are about to change for the company. It’s entirely possible that they may be forced to stop the loot crate system at some point.