In the “Arms Race” game mode in Counter-Strike:Global Offensive, any player within one kill of victory must wield only a golden knife. In Overwatch, gold weapon skins are unlocked through competitive points, only obtainable by winning games in the highest-stakes bracket of matchmaking. In Saints Row, a golden Desert Eagle replaces the normal version if you kill every bounty target in the Airport district. Throughout the Call of Duty franchise, the gold camouflage is unlocked by finishing all challenges with a specific weapon. Other times, developers use golden guns as an award for the player’s accomplishments, often by securing a certain number of kills with the base firearm.

It’s not too difficult to guess why developers love treating gold weapons as special gold is the universal currency, a glittering metal that every culture in history treated with reverence, and gamers are no exception. In Borderlands 2, Knoxx’s Gold pistol is a rare drop from the namesake general that has above-average stats and resells for a huge amount of money. In Max Payne 3, each level has three golden pieces of a firearm scattered throughout, and collecting them lets you wield a golden version of that gun that deals 10% more damage. When available (and they seem to be available in almost every game with weapon skins), a golden reskin will almost always have some sort of prestige, rarity, or exclusivity associated with them. In Far Cry 2, the Golden AK is a rare gun that degrades slower than the normal version. Columbia feels like just the sort of jingoistic hyper-American society that would gild everyday firearms.

So why do so many developers immediately go for golden guns? Bioshock Infinite is one of the only games where the gold gun DLC enhances the in-world artstyle. In the programmed world of video games, where one need not worry about firearm maintenance or practicality, the sky is the limit for how many ways we can customize our guns. We want to leave our mark on the items that mean the most to us, and as a warrior culture we especially love to own weapons that have unique, stylized decals.

How to get golden weapons in tf2