Gamers think VALORANT's Black Market Bundle looks a lot like Counter-Strike weapons

The new VALORANT skin bundle has quite a familiar look.

Called the Black Market Bundle, the skins seem to pay homage to the game's biggest competitor, Counter-Strike.

Set to be released on Wednesday (12 April), the skins will be available for Bulldog, Classic, Marshall, Melee, and Vandal.

As soon as Riot's Black Market bundle was announced on Monday (10 April), players began noticing that the skins greatly resemble the iconic Counter-Strike weapons from which many of VALORANT's weapons take inspiration.

They wouldn't be wrong either; the skins are similar, and the skin bundle's theme and branding are reminiscent of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Veering away from the game’s flashier, more outlandish and colourful skins in the past, the Black Market bundle is themed in more neutral tones in black, sand beige, and mahogany, which may be a bit reminiscent of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s weapons.

Many in the FPS community took notice of these uncanny similarities:

Specifically, the Bulldog skin is quite reminiscent of the FAMAS from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, whereas the Vandal used by the attacker seems to be an exact replica of a true AK-47 from the same game.

Tarik "Tarik" Celik, a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro and now a VALORANT streamer and content creator, was among the players who said the bundle was very Counter-Strike: Global Offensive themed.

"Oh my god, it's an AK! What was that?" he said in a stream where he reacted to the skin announcement.

"Was that supposed to be a Vandal?" he added, while rewinding that specific clip. "It's literally a CS skin set."

The Vandal's mahogany wood and black metalwork are striking contrasts that will make any FPS fan do a double take. In addition, the Classic's aesthetic resembles that of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Glock.

Quite frankly, even the promotional materials show that the Black Market Bundle is placed in cases similar to the ones Counter-Strike players open to get new skins.

Some Twitter users like Pyythhn note that this might be Riot’s response to Valve’s announcement about the upcoming release of Counter-Strike 2, with throngs of players clocking in tons of hours in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive since the announcement.

This is also the game’s first-ever skin bundle that will feature “unique Defender and Attacker appearances”, with a different colour scheme and a couple of variations in the design, depending on which side you might be on during the match.

The price of the bundle has not been revealed yet, but based on skin pricing history, it will likely cost about 7,100 VALORANT points, with each weapon priced at about 1,775 VP and melee priced at 3,500 VP.

The Black Market Bundle will be available on the VALORANT shop beginning Wednesday (12 April).

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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