Knife Trade-Ups in the New CS2 Update

Valve has just dropped the most controversial update in recent Counter-Strike history, without us exaggerating about it. Effective immediately, 5 regular Covert skins can be exchanged for one Knife or Gloves from a collection of provided items. It’s wild out here, right? The October 23, 2025 update will henceforth be known as the dark day for Knife collectors and skin collectors who relied on Knives as the means of investment. On the other hand, this update is somewhat positive for the regular hard-working folk, considering that the Knives and Gloves will become more attainable. Let’s take a closer look at the recent CS2 update that left everyone shaken to their core. 

Gameplay Changes

Before we discuss the main course, let’s just glance over the gameplay changes that were implemented by Valve today. Rejoice, Retakes enjoyers, as this game mode returns to CS2 supporting Defusal Group Alpha and Defusal Group Delta maps on matchmaking servers. The fast-paced 4v3 game mode with after-plant scenarios is a great way to play shorter games and show off your inventories, now that everyone will have a knife and a pair of gloves, lol. Many players were asking for Retake to come back, and Valve obliged.

Trade Up Contract Update

The Trade Up Contract expands and is now possible with Covert and Gold quality items. What it essentially means is that five items of Covert (red) quality can be exchanged for one Gold (Knife or Gloves) item. If that is not shocking enough, you can now also exchange 5 StatTrak Covert items in order to get 1 StatTrak Knife from the same collection. This update is probably the biggest shift towards democratization of the skin market, which initially has a positive impact on regular players, but also can be dangerous for the market overall, flooding it with knives and gloves and consequentially lowering the overall value of skins and other in-game customization items. 

It is worth noting that this update creates a dilemma in the fact that players are supposed to be able to craft premium items for lower prices, but the cost of the red items is now 10-20 times more expensive. Some players report that the Steam market and various third-party skin marketplaces have issues processing transactions. At this point, we just have to wait and see how this all works out in the near future.  As it stands, the CS2 market now is more alive than ever, with every player participating in a digital gold rush.  

How To Make a Trade-Up Contract for a Knife? 

In order to flip your Covert skins for a knife, you have to do the following:

• Gather Your Skins: Select five Covert skins from a specific collection that also contains a knife (e.g., Dreams & Nightmares, Chroma, or Spectrum collections). To maximize your chances on getting a  specific knive (like a Talon Doppler), use all five from collections that feature that very knife.
• Start the Contract: In your inventory, right click on the Covert skin and proceed to "Use with Trade Up contract" or simply go to the Trade-Up Contract tab and you can select the skins from there. With this update, Covert skins will now be accepted for this feature.
• Select Five Skins: Choose five Covert skins that you want to use in the Trade-up contract and , click "Ready to Trade Up" and then "Proceed" and you're good to go!
• StatTrak Option: If all five inputs are StatTrak, you'll get a StatTrak™ knife. Regular inputs yield regular knives or gloves.

If you want to find out more about Trade-Up Contracts, then click here to read the detailed guide dedicated to this topic.

Trade Up Contract Aftermath

What many collectors definitely didn’t ask for is for Valve to drop the skin market once again in a span of less than two months. Allowing players getting a rare knife or gloves by trading up five Covert skins seems like a great idea that makes both the knives and gloves more attainable to regular players. However, this resulted in yet another CS2 market collapse. As expected, the cost of Covert skins has skyrocketed and pricing for even the least desirable Red skin is now multiplied 10 times or more. The cost of knives, predictably, has collapsed and the CS2 Skins market cap is down 36%. The company did not clarify and probably never will if this decision was made solely to combat skin traders, but it will certainly go down as one of the most divisive and controversial decisions implemented by Valve.

Simply put, if you’re a regular player who buys skins solely to enjoy the game with a cool skin, then this update is great news, as you will have more chances at obtaining a rare knife or a pair of gloves that you could’ve only dreamed about before. However, if you’re a trader or a skin collector, then this update is definitely a hard hit, especially if you’re heavily invested into knives or gloves, as their price is unlikely to fully recover. That is not the case if you happen to have a stash full of Covert skins waiting for their time to shine. Even the worst Red skins you might have in your Inventory can now make you some serious dough. If you want to sell your skins for real money and get a zippy payout, then head over to Skin.Land where you can sell all kinds of CS2-related items, including skins, knives and many more.