When Do Major Sticker Sales End?
Being one of the most popular competitive FPS titles on the internet, Counter-Strike 2 has earned a reputation for itself for rocking one of the biggest esports scenes in the vast and continually expanding world of video games. Alongside a plethora of minor tournaments, the CS2 community also plays host to the grandeur of Major Championships, more commonly referred to as Majors. These prestigious events are backed by Valve, the game’s developer, and draw together the finest CS2 teams from across the globe, competing for a gigantic prize pool while being cheered on by an electric live audience.
Whether or not you’re an avid follower of the competitive CS2 scene, there’s still something that the entire Counter-Strike community eagerly looks forward to during the Major tournaments - Sticker Capsules. For the uninitiated, every CS2 Major is marked by Sticker Capsules for the respective Major hitting the in-game store. These Sticker Capsules are a significant aspect of the CS2 Majors, as they allow players to purchase and collect stickers related to the participating teams, players, and the event itself. These stickers can then be applied to in-game weapons to show support for favorite teams or simply to personalize skins with unique designs.
The overall excitement surrounding Sticker Capsules intensifies as the Major event progresses, with each team’s success or elimination directly influencing the demand for their stickers. Successful teams’ stickers often become sought-after items, raising their value on the Steam Community Market. This dynamic system creates a unique synergy between the esports competition and the skin market, enabling players to support their favorite teams and potentially profit from in-game trading.
What Are CS2 Sticker Sales?
While Major Sticker Capsules are typically made available for purchase a few days before the commencement of Major tournaments, the term “Sticker Sale” in CS2 refers to the period when these capsules are heavily discounted, often at a whopping 70-80% off the original price. Evidently, this constitutes the period when most CS2 players and investors buy the stickers. Once the stickers are taken off sale, their prices are likely to increase over time, making them a promising investment in the majority of cases.
Looking At Historical Sticker Sale Durations
Once again, it’s impossible to predict with certainty when the Sticker Sales for a CS2 Major will come to an end. However, we can make an educated guess of the Sticker Sale duration by studying the past CS2 Majors and the span of their respective Sticker Sales.
For starters, we have to check out a list of all the previous CS2 Majors, their initial Sticker Sale dates, concluding dates, and the calculated differences in days between these two points. To simplify the process, we have listed all the aforementioned information in the table below:
| Major | Sale Start | Sale End | Difference In Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 BLAST Paris | 2022-06-23 | 2023-10-07 | 106 |
| 2022 IEM Rio | 2022-12-14 | 2023-02-20 | 68 |
| 2022 PGL Antwerp | 2022-06-03 | 2022-08-09 | 67 |
| 2021 PGL Stockholm | 2021-11-30 | 2022-01-18 | 49 |
| 2020 RMR | 2021-04-06 | 2021-05-21 | 45 |
| 2019 StarLadder Berlin | 2019-09-07 | 2019-09-26 | 19 |
| 2019 IEM Katowice | 2019-03-02 | 2019-03-11 | 9 |
| 2018 FACEIT London | 2018-09-22 | 2018-09-26 | 4 |
| 2018 ELEAGUE Boston | 2018-01-26 | 2018-01-30 | 4 |
| 2017 PGL Krakow | 2017-07-23 | 2017-07-25 | 2 |
| 2017 ELEAGUE Atlanta | 2017-01-29 | 2017-01-31 | 2 |
| 2016 ESL One Cologne | 2016-07-10 | 2016-07-12 | 2 |
| 2016 MLG Columbus | 2016-04-03 | 2016-04-04 | 1 |
| 2015 DreamHack Cluj-Napoca | 2015-10-3 | 2015-11-04 | 4 |
| 2015 ESL One Cologne | 2015-08-23 | 2015-08-24 | 1 |
| 2015 ESL One Katowice | 2015-03-15 | 2015-03-16 | 1 |
| 2014 DreamHack Winter | 2014-11-29 | 2014-12-02 | 3 |
| 2014 ESL One Cologne | 2014-08-17 | 2014-08-19 | 2 |
| 2014 EMS One Katowice | 2014-03-15 | 2014-03-17 | 2 |
When Do Major Sticker Sales End?
Taking a quick glance at the table above, it’s apparent that the paradigm of Sticker Sales has changed over the years, with their overall duration being expanded considerably, and the conclusion dates being progressively extended. For instance, no CS2 Major prior to 2019 StarLadder Berlin had a Sticker Sale spanning for over ten days, whereas, Sticker Sales in the more recent tournaments have encompassed durations even surpassing 60 days.
For the same reason, data from CS2 Majors that occurred before 2019 can’t be reliably used for predicting the dates for the upcoming Sticker Sales. In order to formulate an estimation regarding the duration of the Sticker Sales for the upcoming Major tournaments, the most reliable approach would involve analyzing the patterns from the last four or five Majors.
By checking out the past few Majors, it’s apparent that the duration of Sticker Sales has been consistently increasing. Should Valve choose to continue this trend moving forward, fans can expect future Sticker Sales to conclude approximately two to three months after they are initially put on sale.
When Are Major Stickers Initially Released?
If you wish to know more about when the Sticker Capsules first hit the game’s store, you can check out our detailed article on Major Sticker initial release dates.
When Do Major Stickers First Go On Sale?
There isn’t a set date when the sticker sales for CS2 Majors start. As a rule of thumb, it’s safe to assume that the Major Stickers will go on sale at a discounted rate after the conclusion of the Major. The exact date of the Sticker sale still varies greatly between tournaments. You can check out our in-depth analysis about when Major Stickers go on sale.
Conclusion
With more and more players opting to invest in CS2 sticker capsules, it’s unlikely for Valve to reduce the overall duration of the Major Sticker Sales. So we expect future sales will continue to last 2-3 months, as this seems to earn Valve a lot of money.
Also, if you’re planning to invest in Major Sticker Capsules in CS2, it’s crucial to acknowledge the presence of inherent risks. It is strongly recommended that readers conduct thorough and comprehensive research before opting to invest in CS2 Sticker Capsules, as the prices of these capsules can vary strongly based on a number of different factors.
