Another month has gone by. Easter is now a distant memory and it's time to take care of our health by burning the calories we gained during the holidays. You likely enjoyed the time you spent with your family and loved ones. However, the CS:GO scene never rests, so we have a lot of interesting news for you. A lot happened in April 2023 in the world of CS:GO and some of this information might come as a surprise. Especially in light of the upcoming Paris Major 2023. As always, we welcome your feedback. We would love to know what types of news you would like us to cover. Now, let's move on to the main topic of this article.

News 1: Another record was broken. CS:GO players opened 50 million cases in April 2023

We have to admit that we were mistaken last time. In March 2023, we stated that players had opened a truly staggering number of 39.5 million cases, according to the data provided by csgocasetracker.com. We thought it would take a while to break this record, but we were wrong; it took only one month. It appears that in April, players opened more than 50 million cases. According to the csgocasetracker website, "an estimated 50.3 million CS:GO cases were unboxed in April 2023," as shown in the image below.

It shows once again that the popularity of CS:GO is on the rise, likely due to the excitement surrounding CS2. There is also another interesting factor that likely contributed to the number of cases opened in April 2023: the Anubis collection, which went on sale on April 25, 2023 and was opened 9 million times in just a few days. Why is this so? Firstly, it is relatively inexpensive, costing only $1.99, but the most important factor is the fact that it offers truly interesting and vibrant skins, such as the FAMAS Water of Nephthys or the P250 Apep's Curse. However, players mostly open this case because of the incredible M4A4 Eye of Horus that can be found inside. The factory new version of this skin costs over $2000 on the market, so it is no surprise that players want to get their hands on it. When will this record be broken? To be honest, we don't know. We tried to predict it last time but were wrong, so we won't make that mistake again.

News 2: BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 RMR Results

In April 2023, all Regional Major Rankings (RMR) for the BLAST.tv Paris 2023 were finished. Below, we present the results and provide you with information about all the teams that qualified for the Paris Major 2023. The results were as follows:

1. European RMR A (with 8 best teams advancing to the BLAST.tv Paris Major):

• Natus Vincere – 1st
• Fnatic – 2nd
• Into the Breach – 3rd
• Bad News Eagles – 4th
• Team Gamer Legion – 5th
• Apeks – 6th
• OG – 7th
• MOUZ – 8th

The most intriguing aspect here is the Into the Breach team, which has qualified for the Paris Major 2023. This will be their first S-Tier event and we wish them the best of luck. However, even more surprising is that FaZe Clan, which just won the Intel Grand Slam Season 4, finished the RMR in 9th place.

2. European RMR B (with 8 best teams advancing to the BLAST.tv Paris Major):

• 9INE – 1st
• Heroic – 2nd
• Team Vitality – 3rd
• Monte – 4th
• G2 Esports – 5th
• Forze Esports – 6th
• Ninjas in Pyjamas – 7th
• Ence – 8th

The first-place finish of the 9INE team is unexpected. Until now, they have only participated in one S-Tier event (Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023), where they placed ninth. However, based on their performance during the RMR, they could be the dark horse of the tournament. Additionally, this will be the Monte team's first S-Tier event.

3. American RMR (with 5 best teams advancing to the BLAST.tv Paris Major)

• FURIA Esports – 1st
• paiN Gaming – 2nd
• Team Liquid – 3rd
• Complexity Gaming – 4th
• Fluxo – 5th

The fact that FURIA Esports won the RMR is not surprising at all. The high positions of Team Liquid and Complexity Gaming are also not surprising. The biggest winner of this RMR is paiN Gaming team; up until this point, they had only participated in a few S-tier rank tournaments. Furthermore, this will be the second S-tier rank tournament for the Fluxo team. We wish them the best of luck.

4. Asia-Pacific RMR (with 2 best teams advancing to the BLAST.tv Paris Majo)

• Grayhound Gaming – 1st
• The MongolZ – 2nd

While Grayhound Gaming and the MongolZ took first and second place, the biggest surprise was the elimination of two of China's strongest teams: Rare Atom, who have had a great deal of success in the CS:GO scene, and TYLOO, the pioneers of Chinese Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Judging by the roster of participating teams, this tournament is sure to be a highly captivating event. We can't wait to see it.

News 3: The growing popularity of CS:GO leads to two record-breaking skin-trading deals

There's no denying that the announcement of CS2 has led to an increase in popularity for CS:GO. As a result, skins, cases, and other customizable items have become much more valuable. Thus, it's not surprising that two record-breaking deals on the skin-trading market were completed. The first is the AK-47 Case Hardened with four Titan logos, which sold for an astonishing $400,000 on April 16, 2023. This information was provided by zipeL, who acted as a middleman in this deal.

Additionally, it's worth mentioning that in the same deal, a well-worn Karambit #387 P1 was sold for an additional $100,000. Why was this AK-47 skin so expensive? There are several reasons. Firstly, it had the best available pattern, 661. Secondly, it had four Titan (Holo) stickers, each valued at $60,000. Thus, it's not surprising that this AK-47 Case Hardened sold for such a large amount.

The second deal we want to highlight occurred on April 27, 2023. This time, it was an M4A4 Howl with four additional iBUYPOWER stickers. As you may recall from our previous articles, M4A4 Howl is one of the rarest skins in the game due to it being blocked for copyright infringement, resulting in a limited number of these skins available on the market. Once again, the middleman who confirmed the sale was Oliver "ZipeL" Behrensdorff. The skin sold for $215,000. According to ZipeL, the skin was sold for a relatively low price, but it's undeniable that it was one of the largest transactions ever made on the CS:GO skin market. Who wouldn't want an extra $200,000 in their pocket?

These two transactions show that the popularity of skins is on the rise. CS2 is having a huge impact on the scene, but this might not be a positive situation for Valve. The hype for CS2 is immense, and if Valve fails to deliver a masterpiece, the entire CS:GO scene could suffer greatly.

News 4: Virtus.pro stuns the entire scene by withdrawing from IEM Rio 2023

Virtus.pro is a renowned organization in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene, known for their successful teams that have won tournaments such as EMS One Katowice 2014 and IEM Rio Major 2022. However, their performance at the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A was disappointing, with a 1-3 record (a 16-9 win against SAW, a 14-16 loss against B8, a 13-16 loss against ITB, and a 0-2 loss against MOUZ). This is surprising given that both Into the Breach and B8 have limited success in the professional CS:GO scene, especially B8 which is a team from Ukraine (Virtus.pro is a Russian organization). Additionally, the tournament was thrown into controversy when Virtus.pro decided to swap players during the event, with KaiR0N- being replaced by n0rb3r7 when the team was 1-2 down. This move was widely criticized and did not improve their performance, as they ultimately ranked 13th and were eliminated from Paris 2023. The community was stunned when Virtus.pro announced that they would not be participating in the upcoming IEM Rio 2023, stating on Twitter and their official website that playing in the tournament "will not bring satisfaction to either the team or the fans."

This decision is surprising because Virtus.pro had previously stated that they were preparing for IEM Rio 2023 after their loss in RMR. It is disappointing to hear this news. The absence of such a talented team from IEM Rio 2023 will be a significant loss for the tournament.

News 5: Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo misses his first Major tournament in 8 years

There is no doubt that this year's RMRs were surprising. Gabriel "Fallen" Toledo is one of the few CS:GO players with as many achievements and titles to his name. The 31-year-old Brazilian player is a legend in the community. However, he will not be participating in the BLAST.tv Major Paris 2023, as his team, Imperial Esports, placed 12th in the BLAST.tv Major Paris 2023 American RMR, eliminating them from the tournament. Imperial Esports had a record of 1-2, with a win against LOS+oNe and losses against Evil Geniuses and Complexity Gaming. This means that Fallen's 8-year streak of participating in every Major tournament has come to an end. Since 2015, he has won two Major tournaments (MLG Columbus 2016 and ESL One Cologne 2016), placed third in ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017, fourth in ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, third in FACEIT Major London 2018, and third in IEM Katowice 2019. The entire CS:GO community is concerned about rumors of Fallen's retirement. Some people believe that we may not see him in another Major tournament ever again. We hope that these rumors are not true.

April 2023 in the world of CS:GO

As it can be seen, April was a very interesting month in the world of CS:GO. To summarize the most important events:

• Another record was broken and over 50 million cases were opened in April 2023;
• There was huge popularity for the Anubis Collection Package, which was opened 9 million times by players despite being introduced at the end of the month (April 25);
• Two significant transactions were made on the skin-trading market: an AK-47 Case Hardened was sold for $400,000, and an M4A4 Howl was sold for $215,000;
• The Virtus.pro team decided to withdraw from IEM Rio 2023 due to their underwhelming performance during the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A;
• Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo, one of the most famous CS:GO players, will miss his first Major tournament in 8 years, and there are rumors about his potential retirement.