Ranked play, competitive mode coming to Valorant next week

Olivia Richman Published 16/06/2020

Ever since Valorant was officially launched, players have been wondering when the game’s official ranked mode would be added.

For a while, all that the Valorant community knew was that it was coming after “a few patches.” But game director Joe Ziegler finally confirmed on Twitter that competitive mode was finally coming to Riot’s FPS.

“It’s been hectic, so I haven’t had a lot of time to post. To answer the biggest questioned: rated (competitive mode) will likely be out some time next week,” Ziegler tweeted.

He added that they have been spending the past week “putting together that release” and making sure it’s “good.”

Hey everyone, It’s been hectic, so I haven’t had a lot of time to post. To answer the biggest question: rated (competitive mode) will likely be out some time next week. We’re spending this week putting together that release and making sure it is good. =)
— Ziegler (@RiotZiegler) June 15, 2020

In response, many well known players and streamers rejoiced. T1’s Michael “Sonii” Sherman, a former Apex Legends player, made it especially clear that he had been waiting for this very update.

“I’m gonna take so much fkn’ caffeine day 1 of ranked and play till I bleed VALORANT OUT OF MY EYESSSSSSSAHHHHEUDHCBDBW!” he exclaimed on Twitter, accompanied by a photo of Goku going Super Saiyan.

I’m gonna take so much fkn’ caffeine day 1 of ranked and play till I bleed VALORANT OUT OF MY EYESSSSSSSAHHHHEUDHCBDBW pic.twitter.com/81R55wpSDu
— T1 SONII (@sonii) June 15, 2020

Ranked mode coming to Valorant’s full release

While ranked mode was implemented in the closed beta, Valorant developers announced early on that the official launch wouldn’t include competitive mode right away. This was to give players who hadn’t participated in the game’s beta an opportunity to catch up to those who had, as well as to provide Riot some time to perfect the ranked play system.

Riot also confirmed to Polygon that the tiers in ranked were going to be renamed, specifically the game’s top tier. As tje rank was also called “Valorant,” many players felt that it was confusing. Senior designer Sean Szopinski explained that Valorant seemed like a “really awesome choice” for the top rank when they were originally brainstorming ideas.

“What could be cooler than climbing the ranks, aspiring to become an elite and heroic Valorant, the personification of the game itself! You guys are right though, it’s a bit confusing. We get it. I get it. We’ll change it for launch,” Szopinski said.

He also told Polygon that rank will be “a little more exciting” this time around. Szopinski explained that Valorant players don’t really have any incentive to keep playing once they hit the top rank. As long as they’re winning, there’s no further reward and no way to compete with other top ranked players. If they lose, they lose their prestigious rank and not much else. This will apparently be different come next week.

This is good news for top players like Daniel “Dafran” Francesca. If he ever decides to come back from gardening, he would be happy to see that there’s something to do after reaching the highest rank. The popular streamer had taken back his positive reviews of Valorant early on, saying it’s “not even hard” to reach Valorant, the game’s highest tier.

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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