Counter-Strike's 'X-ray scanner' for loot containers is coming to Germany later this month

Counter-Strike 2 players in Germany will soon find themselves in possession of an "X-ray scanner" that will enable them to see what's inside containers before opening them. It sounds good, superficially—no more throwing money away on randomized garbo-tier skins—but, of course, there's a catch.

That catch, as detailed in this FAQ, is that once you've scanned a container and revealed what's inside, you're stuck with whatever's inside: "Once a container has been scanned and the item has been revealed, the only way to scan another container is to purchase and claim the previously revealed item."

There are no do-overs, and you can't scan a bunch of containers at one time and pick out the stuff you want. You scan it, purchase whatever's inside, then do it again ad infinitum—or just never open another container again, ever.

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It's also not new. The Counter-Strike X-ray scanner has been around since 2019, when it was rolled out to users in France in response to tightening loot box regulation in that country. Valve didn't provide a reason for expanding the system to Germany but it's a fair bet that similar reasoning is at work, and without being cynical about it, complying with the letter of the law does seem to be the goal here: Nothing is really changing except German players, along with their French counterparts, will have to do a bit more of a song-and-dance to open their CS2 containers. If you can't avoid the contents of the container, after all, then what good does revealing them in advance really do?

Beginning March 16th, players in Germany will have an "X-Ray Scanner" tab in their Inventory. For those players, containers can only be opened via X-ray Scanner. The X-Ray Scanner will come preloaded with a one-time exclusive non-tradable "Genuine P250 | X-ray", which must be…March 6, 2026

Counter-Strike containers have a long and somewhat sordid history going back at least a decade, including skin gambling controversies, the use of CS:GO container keys in international money laundering, and numerous debates among regulatory bodies over whether loot boxes in general constitute a form of gambling. It's ironic that while Counter-Strike was the pioneer in the field, it was outrage over loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront 2 that really dragged the issue into the light.

Valve has stayed largely heads-down and mouth-shut throughout, but while some regulators in the past have found that loot boxes do not constitute gambling, at least in the strictly legal sense, the tide is turning against them. Valve was recently sued by New York state for "letting children and adults illegally gamble for the chance to win valuable virtual prizes," for instance, and the rising tide of "protect the children" legislation worldwide seems bound to make life more complicated for game companies who profit on digital item trades.

The X-ray scanner will be rolled out to CS2 players in Germany on March 16.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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