Kirkens Korshær opens digital secondhand shop for Counter-Strike skins

Danish charity Kirkens Korshær has launched a digital secondhand shop for Counter-Strike 2 skins and other in-game items, with proceeds supporting its work with vulnerable children and young people in Denmark, DR reports.

Players can donate the digital items, which the charity will then resell. Skins are weapon designs in the game and have become collectable items; some have sold for hundreds of thousands of kroner. One featured in a DR report in 2021 was priced at more than 126,686 kroner.

The campaign is aimed at men aged 24 to 44 who may not otherwise have much contact with the charity. “We want to give them the opportunity to support social work aimed at other young people,” said Morten Østergaard Sørensen, Kirkens Korshær’s head of communications.

Skins can be obtained through loot boxes, which contain random items and have been criticised by experts as a form of gambling for children. Sørensen said the charity was aware of the debate and had targeted its campaign at adults. “And this is not loot boxes,” he said.

The charity has targeted social media advertising at people over 24 and partnered with influencers whose audiences are older. Sørensen said the initiative aims to raise awareness of the circumstances of socially vulnerable people in Denmark as well as collect money for vulnerable young people. At the time of publication, 18 skins had been donated.