Valorant leaks suggest battle royale mode is in development

Fariha Bhatti Published 07/07/2021

Valorant is reportedly getting its own Batte Royale, according to a leaker and dataminer who works in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

A sizable chunk of Valorant’s player base comes from battle royale games and an insider name PlayerIGN has pleasant news for them as he reports that a Valorant battle royale is already being tested.

Rumor: #Valorant‘s battle royale is being tested by a small group of players as of last week.

In any case, it’s confirmed there’s some kind of exclusive testing with the Chinese players atm.
— PlayerIGN (@PlayerIGN) November 30, 2020

Many multiplayer games lost players to Valorant in 2020, while Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has seen a significant dip over recent months. However, Fortnite also saw numerous professional players move to Valorant, who completely transformed their playstyle to suit the tactical shooter. The new game mode reported by PlayerIGN will allow these players to revisit their home turf in Valorant.

Is a Valorant Battle Royale coming soon?

PlayerIGN has accurately reported other updates and agent additions. This time, he’s insistent that Riot Games is working on a PUBG-inspired Valorant experience. The insider teased the battle royale mode last year, but no one paid much attention to the news. He recently updated his older tweet with a video link, which revealed that Valorant Battle Royale might be happening behind the curtains.

The insider further claimed that the game mode is already in the exploratory phase, and numerous PUBG players have been testing it out. The reports come weeks after the confirmation of Valorant Mobile, which may arrive soon. It’s highly likely that Riot Games is cooking up a Battle Royale version specifically for mobile phone users.

After all, Anna Donlon had previously stressed that the “mobile player need is different” and that the developer is focusing on fulfilling those needs without creating a 1:1 replication of the PC experience.

“We’re not trying to convert Valorant PC players into Valorant Mobile players or vice versa. We’re absolutely just as committed to keeping the PC experience at the quality level it is or higher,” Anna Donlon said.

It’s unclear if the Valorant battle royale will be its own standalone game or a game mode within Valorant similar to CSGO’s Danger Zone. If it’s a game mode within Valorant, it’s uncertain whether it will be a permanent expansion of the matchmaking options or whether it might get added to the list of rotating LTMs alongside Replication, Escalation, and Snowball Fight. The developer recently announced that each mode would replace another after an interval of about two weeks.

Whatever the case, players may get to try out what would essentially be a Valorant-Apex Legends hybrid. Given how successful Riot Games was with taking over the auto-battler genre with Teamfight Tactics, this might be bad news for Respawn Entertainment, Epic Games, and Bluehole.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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