History of trade-up contracts
How the trade-up rules changed — from the first skins in CS:GO to CS2. Every event has a link to its source; almost all are official update notes from Valve. How it works now — see «How crafts work».
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August 13, 2013
Arms Deal: skins arrive in the game
The Arms Deal update added weapon finishes, cases and keys to CS:GO — the whole skin economy starts here.
Wikipedia: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive -
2013
The first contract — for one collection only
According to the wiki, the contract first worked only with the Arms Deal collection, and on September 19, 2013 it was opened to any collection — but all ten items still had to come from one. per the wiki, not verified with Valve
Counter-Strike Wiki: Trade Up Contract -
May 14, 2014
Collections can be mixed
The contract stopped requiring a single collection: ten items of one rarity give one item of the next — from the collection of one of the inputs. The odds still rest on this rule today.
Valve: update notes -
May 28, 2014
«Use With Trade Up Contract» right from the inventory
The item menu got a «Use With Trade Up Contract» entry — it shows when a player has ten or more items of one rarity.
Valve: update notes -
March 24, 2023
No contract in the CS2 closed test
For the limited Counter-Strike 2 test, the contract window was removed from the game.
Valve: update notes -
October 22, 2025
Five Covert — a knife or gloves
The contract learned to take five items Covert. Five StatTrak™ Covert give a StatTrak™ knife, five regular ones — a regular knife or gloves; both from the collection of one of the inputs.
Valve: update notesThe market reacted immediately: skins got more expensive — they were bought up for contracts.
BLAST.tv, 23.10.2025 -
May 21, 2026
Souvenirs — into the contract with regular items
Souvenir items can go into the contract together with regular ones. Their souvenir properties are removed, and the result is a regular item one rarity higher from the collection of one of the inputs.
Valve: update notes
Dates are by Valve publication time (Pacific). In Moscow, Valve evening releases fall on the next day, so the news may say, for example, «October 23» instead of «22». Found a mistake? The source matters more than we do.