Project A renamed Valorant, gameplay and characters revealed

Olivia Richman Published 02/03/2020

Details on Riot Games’ hotly anticipated FPS game Project A have been revealed.

According to a press release, Project A has been renamed Valorant. The game is a competitive, five-on-five, character-based FPS for PC that will launch in the summer of 2020. It will be free-to-play, like Riot’s ever-popular League of Legends.

According to Riot, Valorant will allow players to enjoy “precise skill, high stakes, lethal gameplay, and clutch moments that reward a creative gameplay style.” Similar to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the game will be round-based, with 24 rounds.

In Valorant, players can pick from a “diverse cast” of supernatural agents from real-world cultures and locations, similar to Overwatch. To further hone in on this comparision, each character in Valorant will have unique abilities that offer tactical information and strategic support. This creates a unique playstyle for each character.

“Throughout Valorant’s development, we wanted to uphold the fundamental values of a competitive tactical shooter: precise shooting, lethal gunplay, and strategic execution,” executive producer Anna Donlon stated. “By adding unique character abilities that complement the game’s gunplay we believe we’re expanding upon the traditional tac shooter experience and bringing something new to the genre.”

Gameplay footage was also revealed, showing off the many similarities between Valorant and Counter-Strike. But Valorant offers new elements for FPS fans, including added abilities and the new strategies that accompany those team compositions.

To ensure competitive integrity, Riot Games invested in technical back-end support, 128-tick servers for all global players, and even anti-cheat prevention and detection “from day one.” Riot Games also posted a number of screenshots of the game, though some of these were leaked last week.

This image shows a teamfight in action, with two players crouched and ready to engage on a sniper in a doorway ahead of them. Most of the screenshots were similar in style, with huddled teams taking on approaching enemies in apparent offense vs. defense-type situations. While this location appears to be inspired by a location in Asia, there were other locations that appeared darker and more enclosed.

Shared after the initial leak, this never-before-seen concept art shows two characters up close. While gunplay is the obvious focus of Valorant, each character has specific abilities that change their style and tactics. Here, two characters show off their supernatural abilities, one that looks fire-related and the other possibly poison or air.

For more information about Valorant, visit www.PlayVALORANT.com.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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