Counter Strike: Global Offensive now offers a unique X-Ray Scanner which allows users to reveal the item that’s inside any of their Crates. The catch is that it’s limited to France only, which suggests that the system was riffing with the country’s anti-gambling laws.
French players now have to first place the Crate they wish to open into the X-Ray Scanner, which then unlocks an option to buy the Crate Key they need. This means French players will know what each of their Crates contains before actually opening it.
The X-Ray Scanner comes pre-loaded with a unique X-Ray P250 skin, which French players must claim before having the option to use the Scanner for their own Crates. As you’d expect, Crates can no longer be purchased in France at all, though they can still be sold via the Community Market. Since we haven’t been told otherwise, French players will likely still get Crates the same way as they did before - through playing the game.
After you scan a Crate, it’s going to be permanently consumed, and you will have to claim its item before having the option of using the X-Ray Scanner again: “The X-ray Scanner will consume the container and reveal the item inside. To use the X-ray Scanner again, the revealed item must be claimed; it is not possible to scan another Container without claiming the revealed item.” It remains to be seen how this will affect the in-game skin economy.
With players from Netherlands and Belgium still restricted from opening Crates in the first place, it seems the system is designed so as to bypass similar laws. Valve may be testing the waters with the French X-Ray Scanner release.
