Gangster showdowns of owners of gambling sites with CS skins

Something strange has been going on in the skin betting industry from CS:GO (now CS2) for a long time, but 2024 has finally torn off the masks. The conflict between the two largest sites — CSGOEmpire and CSGORoll — has turned from a behind-the-scenes vendetta into a full-fledged clownery at an international tournament.

How it all began: personal resentment and the crusade

So, Monarch, the owner of CSGOEmpire, claims that he was allegedly "taken out of business" as a teenager – this was done by Killian, who is now behind CSGORoll. Since then, Monarch has turned into a fighter for ethics in skin gambling – quite ironically, given that his own site is among the largest casinos with cases.

Nevertheless, Monarch already has "victories" behind him: SkinHub, HypeDrop, CSGODiamonds and CSGOWild were shut down on his tip. But the real target was CSGORoll, which he accused of masquerading as a trading platform, when in fact it is a pyramid scheme with fake drop chances.

Methods: Bullying, bribery and YouTube drama

Monarch acted dirty: he intimidated bloggers who collaborated with CSGORoll, and even tried to bribe Coffeezilla, one of the most popular investigators on YouTube. He refused, and instead of exposing CSGORoll, he released three videos against Monarch himself.

Links to Coffeezilla videos:

Climax: The Major trophy is smashed in front of everyone

The real thrash began at the quarterfinals of Major Copenhagen 2024. During the MOUZ vs G2 match, the audience ran onto the stage and smashed the main trophy of the tournament.

A couple of hours before the match, Monarch arranged a stream, where he promised money to everyone who staged a performance. The tournament had to be suspended, and the community is furious. Organizers, spectators, and even Valve expressed indignation.

Valve's reaction and consequences

Valve had to react. Shortly after the incident, two updates were introduced to CS:

• after a purchase or trade, skins become invisible to external sites for 10 days;
• to interact with skins, you now need full access to the account through OAuth — obviously, most users will not do this.

Monarch was left without his own tournament: he was banned from holding his own CS event, despite the preparations that had already begun. As a result, he went on camera with an apology, but the train had already left.

What do we have in the bottom line?

History has once again shown that the skin betting industry is a toxic and gray zone, where millions of dollars revolve around teenagers, streamers, and the illusion of "easy freebies". Website owners are at war with each other using methods worthy of criminal chronicles, hiding behind words about "ethics" and "anti-scam".

And what about Valve? They pretend to fight. But at the same time, they earn millions on cases and skins that they themselves generated. CSGORoll and CSGOEmpire continue to work, and the price of skins is growing — sometimes faster than cryptocurrencies or stocks.