When a new game comes out, everyone is dying to try it out. But new games also mean new memes, and that’s almost as important as the game itself.
Valorant is still in closed beta, but there’s already a pretty good number of memes about Riot’s new first-person shooter. Even if the game goes through changes before its official release this summer, the memes will live on in our hearts, no matter how repetitive or dated they might be. So let’s take a look at some primitive Valorant memes that will forever cement this moment in time in Valorant’s existence.
For a while, the CSGO community scoffed at the idea of Valorant, brushing it off as a lesser game. It had easier maps. Abilities could be a handicap for bad mechanics. But suddenly, Valve has started implementing changes to compete with Valorant’s release this summer. So maybe Valorant is a threat after all.
Valve is most likely worried because some notable CSGO players, including a number of pros, have retired from the classic game to focus on Valorant full time. Some people have been playing Counter-Strike since they were children. But even if the game is always in their hearts, that doesn’t mean they don’t want to try out something new with a promising future.
Seems like there’s a meme for every level of pessimism in the CSGO community. Some say that CSGO players are just a little bit jealous of Valorant and viewing it from afar with secret admiration. Some say that CSGO players are dropping the game to try out Valorant. And some, apparently, think that CSGO is completely dead thanks to Valorant’s existence.
For a while, the Overwatch community was buzzing about Overwatch 2. Revealed at BlizzCon last year, Overwatch 2 has new game modes, new heroes, new abilities, and new skins. Players were already wondering if that was enough to make it worth buying an entirely new game. With Valorant taking Overwatch’s “FPS with abilities” schtick, the free-to-play title may be more appealing than shelling out another $60 for a supposedly dying game.
A lot of content creators have switched to Valorant to not only take advantage of the beta key drop views, but also to try out a new game. Because of the amount of bot accounts taking over the Valorant category on Twitch, a lot of streamers and their followers have called some streamers who switched over to Valorant “sell outs.”
When former Overwatch League pro Daniel “Dafran” Francesca switched over to Valorant on his channel, he had to block some viewers who demanded he play Overwatch instead. Now the streaming community mourns FĂ©lix “xQc” Lengyel, a former OWL pro who held out for a while but has since fallen under Valorant’s spell.
In all fairness, Mei mains can probably easily transition to a lot of different Valorant heroes. Many of them have a focus on blocking off portions of the map with various types of walls. Sage has the most similar wall compared to Mei, so Overwatch players shouldn’t look at it as time wasted. Instead, look at Sage as another opportunity to make opponents miserable in yet another game.
For a while, there was a debate over which game’s playerbase would do better in Valorant. Would it be Overwatch players, since they’re more used to utilizing abilities and combining ults? Or would it be CSGO players because of their superior mechanics and map knowledge? Well, it turns out both playerbases have decided the real question is, “Valorant isn’t even that great anyway. It’s just a copy of [enter our game here] but a WORSE version of it. God, it’s SO boring to watch! Anyone have a key?”
Meme below for emphasis:
Valorant can’t catch a break. It will forever be compared to CSGO and Overwatch, since it very clearly takes inspiration from both games. When it comes to CSGO, Valorant is inspired by their weapons, mechanics, gameplay, and maps. You know, the entire game. But this does pose the question: Can a game like CSGO exist with Overwatch-inspired abilities? The answer is yes, if you don’t mind very deep and plentiful corners.
It’s not only CSGO and Overwatch players who are frustrated with Valorant. Apparently, a lot of Rainbow Six Siege players feel Valorant has copied from them, too, in the form of weapon skins. Unfortunately, this isn’t a rare occurrence in the gaming world. Recently, PUBG Mobile was accused of repeatedly stealing skins from CSGO.
Nothing is sacred.
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