Valve announced a skin contest with a prize pool of one million dollars. The CS.MONEY blog is here to tell you what this Dreams & Nightmares thing is about and what you need to enter it.
One million, ten skins
Valve has launched a contest for skin creators. Almost anyone can participate, but only ten skins will make the cut. Submission starts July 22 and ends October 21.
The prize pool of the contest amounts to one million dollars. All ten winners will receive an equal share of the money, that’s $100,000 each. Moreover, the winning designs will occupy their place in the case.
Valve also clarified the procedure for selecting the best entries. As always, the contents of the case will be selected by the company’s specially trained experts. Casual players only need to support the artists with likes in the Workshop. While this can barely affect Valve’s decision, at least the skin creators will get to bask in the rays of glory.
Entry rules
The rules of the contest in their entirety are described on the CS:GO website — we’ll only list the three key ones.
- First, the item must be original, and the author must be a member of the Workshop.
- Second, you can only submit finishes for the weapons which will be part of the case. For example, the AK-47 or the USP-S are allowed — but not the M4A4.
- Third, the account from which the item is submitted must have no limits or blocks. In particular, this account must have purchases on Steam with a total value of over five bucks.
In addition, the company advises all participants to save and publish as much information about the work process as possible: sketches, concepts, sources of inspiration, and any other related materials.
A new operation?
Yes rather than no. Obviously, the Dreams & Nightmares art contest is related to the upcoming case. Valve even placed a picture of it on the event’s description page. The dates are far more interesting though, with submission ending on October 21. Add another month for the review of works, the announcement of winners, and the packaging of cases — the new case should be released in late November.
The last two operations started at the same time. Operation Shattered Web began on November 18, and Broken Fang, which brought us the most charismatic agent ever, was released on December 3. That said, the timing of the contest can hardly be called a coincidence.
Most likely, the new operation is really looming on the horizon and will match the grandiose scope of the previous one. Perhaps they’ll even revise Mirage. Besides the time frame of the contest, this development is indicated by the general success of operations and the growth of online stats after their release. Bottom line: Valve are unlikely to refuse the opportunity to combine a case with an operation, especially given how much hype this contest caused among skin-makers.
The Dreams & Nightmares contest isn’t Valve’s first attempt to create themed kits. Just remember The Rising Sun and The Gods and Monsters collections or the case celebrating the game’s twentieth anniversary. Will the case include yet another Hyper Beast skin? Try to guess in the comments if a “beast” like that will make its way into the case.
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