Stickers more valuable than organization stock
With the news of Heroic's stock crashing and needing immediate cash in order to make it to even see the release of Counter-Strike 2, there was also news that FaZe was considering a restructuring that would take the stock private.
Both companies, and their publicly traded stocks, are in dire financial straits as those following the daily price changes of the stock have noticed how they have continued to fall. Some have realized that their stock is actually worth less than the in-game items that are on sale just for participating in a Counter-Strike Major.
Traditionally, a sticker capsule costs $1.00 USD. You pay the dollar (with tax) and then you open it up and you get a stick of any kind of quality from any team within the Major. Already at $1.00, this is worth more than FaZe Holdings (NASDAQ: FAZE) which is trading for $0.67 USD as of publishing. For Heroic, their stock is currently trading for NOK $0.80, which is approximately $0.076 USD, well below the dollar value.
On the Steam Market, where users can buy and sell their in-game items using real money, FaZe Clan has several stickers available thanks to their high-quality CS:GO team that has qualified for every Major since MLG Columbus 2016. As a result, they have approximately 40 stickers available to trade on the marketplace right now.
Now, given the scarcity of some of the stickers, as well as the quality, it does stand to reason that enthusiasts of Counter-Strike would prefer these in-game items over holding onto share prices of a gaming organization. However, it should be reminded once more that these are just PNG files and have no tangible value outside of Counter-Strike itself.
Of those 40, there are only four stickers that are worth less than the current share price for FaZe: 2020 RMR at $0.09, Rio 2022 at $0.11, Antwerp 2022 at $0.16, and Stockholm 2021 at $0.32. The next lowest sticker is Berlin 2019 at $0.72, which is about five cents more than the current stock price.
Heroic has not made nearly as many Majors, despite the organization being founded in 2016. With the PGL Stockholm 2021 their first Major, they also received stickers for the 2020 RMR bundle that Valve released to help financially support organizations.
As for Heroic, there is only one sticker that is currently worth less than their stock price at $0.076 USD - the 2020 RMR sticker which is valued at $0.05. The next lowest sticker price is the Rio 2022 sticker which are currently trading for $0.09 USD.
