In all of gaming, there’s perhaps no feeling that can be compared to pulling a knife in Counter-Strike, let alone a super rare one. The odds of doing so are so low that players who truly want to acquire these highly coveted gems are often willing to buy them directly from community listings that charge thousands of dollars.
Now, it appears the longtime phenomenon is hitting VALORANT, but with a caveat—the cosmetics only last one round.
Less than a day removed from the fairly controversial Black.Market bundle releasing in VALORANT, players have discovered extremely rare Easter egg variants for the set’s butterfly knife that are undeniably reminiscent of certain CS:GO skins.
Several videos surfaced on Twitter today showing the Easter eggs being found in private VALORANT matches. After starting tens to thousands of rounds with the 3,550 VALORANT Points (VP) knife equipped, an incredible “Fade” or “Blue Gem” variant of the melee can randomly bless the hands of the luckiest players.
At the time of writing, some have said it’s also possible for a “Tiger Tooth” variant of the knife to appear, but it seems there have yet to be any concrete videos or images shared of that happening.
“If the Easter egg is true about the Black Market butterfly knife then I will instantly get it, please tell me it’s not true,” one player tweeted. “It has a random chance to rip off CSGO in two ways rather than one,” another wrote.
On a Reddit thread showcasing one of the top-secret stabby devices, Riot associate art director Sean Marino admitted they “didn’t think this would be found for weeks.”
It wasn’t long before many began to wonder why Riot didn’t just release the Easter eggs as selectable variants for the Black.Market knife, or make their odds of spawning less bizarre at the very least.
Ultimately, legal questions or not, it appears Riot is more than comfortable leaving these variants just as rare to find in VALORANT as the title the feature is recognized from.
