Valorant
Valorant
NRG Sports Unveils Team For VCT 2025 Tournament
Tokoni Uti
One of the biggest events in the esports calendar is undoubtedly the VCT tournament. Every year, fans wait on bated breath to see who will compete and, more importantly, who will win. While we have to wait a few more months for VTC 2025, we now know more about the contestants. In a Twitter/X post from October 10, 2024, NRG Sports confirmed its team for the tournament. The NRG Sports …
Valorant
Riot Games Announces Updates Ahead of Valorant Patch 9
Tokoni Uti
Valorant fans are on edge waiting for the release of the next patch. But as they wait, Riot Games has announced several changes that will be coming with patch 9.10, including some unprecedented additions. Riot Games has announced the Regen Shield which will be unveiled with patch 9.10. This specific armour name suggests that it will allow players to regenerate after attacks and is bound to be a popular choice. …
Valorant
Leviatán strengthens roster with the signing of Demon1
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
A new chapter has begun for Leviatán Esports with the signing of Max “Demon1” Mazanov, the 2023 Valorant Champions winner. The 22-year-old American, who previously played for Evil Geniuses and NRG Esports, now joins the powerhouse roster of Leviatán. This move is essential for the team as they gear up for the VCT 2025 season. His addition marks a major shift for the Argentinian squad, which aims to further strengthen …
Valorant
Is Valorant shifting to Unreal Engine 5? What it means for the future
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Riot Games has announced a major shift for Valorant, as the popular tactical shooter may be transitioning to Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). While this upgrade has generated significant buzz among players, many are left wondering what this change will mean for the game. Although the switch won’t bring immediate drastic changes, it lays the groundwork for future developments that could enhance the game in many subtle ways. Riot’s decision to …
Valorant
You’ll soon be able to block Valorant trolls forever
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Riot is finally putting the control in players’ hands to combat toxicity with a leaked “Blacklist” or block feature in Valorant. Valorant players have been facing toxicity in varying ways. As like with any multiplayer game, Valorant has been subject to a lot of toxicity since its release, and the players are not in absolute control over this issue. However, Riot Games is slowly taking a few steps to eliminate …
Valorant
Two OP smokers in Valorant are getting heavy nerfs in patch 9.03
Tokoni Uti
Valorant patch 9.03 brings heaps of changes to the game, but all eyes are on Viper and Brimstone nerfs. Valorant players know that the game is constantly being updated with new patches. The latest of these is patch 9.03, announced on August 13, 2024. The new Valorant patch 9.03 comes with several updates, including corrections in the Abyss and the Range. But what has gotten fans really excited has been …
Valorant
New Valorant Wonderstallion bundle price and release date
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Riot, releasing the Wonderstallion bundle in the next patch, might be good news in terms of the affordability of skins. The new skins are vibrant, bright, and bubbly, and this is everything that you need to know. Riot is known to cater to all types of Valorant collectors with its different editions of collections. It frequently releases different editions with varying rarity and time periods between them. The last two …
Valorant
Here’s how to attach a gun buddy to rare Valorant Champions 2024 knife
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant Champions 2024 is arriving soon, and players can’t wait to equip the first knife that can carry a gun buddy. But how exactly to do that? Each year, Riot rolls out a shiny new time-limited bundle to Valorant to celebrate VCT. This bundle is so rare that only those who purchase it during its uptime will only ever own one. It doesn’t rotate in the market, and you can’t …
Valorant map rotation in patch 9.08 has players hating on Ascent, here’s why
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Valorant
Riot Games has revealed a Valorant map rotation sequence for patch 9.08, and players aren’t pleased to find out that a legendary map will be swapped out once again while Ascent remains. Valorant map rotations keep the game fresh and encourage players to enjoy all maps without getting overwhelmed. However, it’s not always a good thing, and the upcoming patch 9.08 map rotation is the perfect example of that. In …
Valorant patch 9.02 cracks down on toxic players with serious penalties
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Valorant
Valorant patch 9.02 introduces harsher penalties for players who engage in disruptive and offensive chat. Like all online multiplayer games, Valorant has a toxicity problem. The difference is that Riot has actively been taking measures to keep the in-game environment in check. Through several patch updates and features, Riot has made it clear that creating a positive and inclusive gaming environment is a top priority. This time, the developer has …
Valorant downtime explained: How long is Valorant maintenance?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games is preparing for the future of Valorant, and for that, the competitive needs to go offline for some time. But how long is Valorant maintenance? Here’s what we know about Valorant downtime. Before each act, Riot disables competitive queues to reset ranks. Besides this reason, Valorant competitive queues rarely go down, but this time, Riot is most likely cooking something as the game’s most cut-throat game goes offline …
You can get Valorant’s Wingman Avatar on Discord for free, here’s how
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant’s Wingman is so cute that players would take him everywhere if possible. For now, you can hang out with him on Discord for free. Gekko’s Wingman is deadly, but he’s criminally cute. A cross of penguin and armadillo, the cute companion has become pretty popular in the Valorant community. From plushies to figurines, players keep finding ways to keep Wingman with them at all times. Now, Riot is allowing …
Riot is giving a free Valorant console beta card, here’s how to get it
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant console beta is finally out in the wild, open for everyone to install. However, Riot has a special reward for those who played the game during closed beta. On June 14, Valorant became available on the console for a few lucky players who signed up for early access. During this time, players enjoyed several new updates and tested the identical game on controllers. After more than a month, Riot …
Valorant announces VCT Seoul groups, here are all 16 teams
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
The official Valorant Champions Tour team has announced the groups for the 2024 tournament being held in Seoul. According to a statement and image shared on the Valorant Champions X account, four Valorant Champion tour groups will be taking part in the competition in Seoul, South Korea, from August 1st to 25th, 2024. Related | Valorant console release date has been leaked, and it’s soon VCT 2024 EMEA champions Fnatic …
Valorant console release date has been leaked, and it’s soon
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant console release has been leaked by a data miner who believes the game is coming sooner than anyone expected. On June 7, Riot Games announced the long-awaited Valorant console at the Summer Game Fest 2024, confirming rumors that had been swirling for two years. According to the developer, the game would work similarly to the PC counterpart and would even receive updates on the same day. This was proven …
When is Valorant Agent 26 release date?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant Agent 26, rumored to be codenamed Sherry, is likely going to join the initiators. Here’s what we know about the Valorant Agent 26 release date. Riot has so far teased the claw of upcoming Agent 26 in the official Valorant episode 9 act 1 trailer. The claw looked similar to Omen’s hand, who previously worked at the Hourglass Kingdom. Since all teasers regarding the next agent, rumored to be …
Is RGX 11z Pro 3.0 bundle in Valorant real? Here’s what we know
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
RGX 11z Pro is the sole Valorant bundle that players simply can’t get enough of, and it seems Riot is well aware of this. A new leak suggests that the upcoming bundle may be a third rendition of RGX 11z Pro but would include a surprise skin. Released originally in 2021 as a futuristic collection with sharp cuts and clean colors, RGX 11z Pro became a staple in the inventory …
Valorant error code 62: What does it mean and how to fix it
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant errors are rare but they are not non-existent. Many players have complained about a Valorant error code 62, which prevents them from playing the game. Each Valorant error has a significant number attached, allowing players to file accurate reports and tickets. While most are simple errors and can be fixed by a PC reboot or router restart, others are more stubborn due to their nature. Server-side errors are particularly …
“My brain gets cooked”: TenZ complains about Evori Dreamwings bundle
Olivia Richman
Valorant
The recent Valorant weapon skin bundle, Evori Dreamwings, initially had gamers enchanted, mesmerized by the cute little animals and adorable animations. But now pro player Tyson “TenZ” Ngo is feeling some concerns over the new skins. The Evori Dreamwings bundle was released with the drop of Episode 9 on June 27. Since then, players have been loving the adorable little creatures dancing around their guns, including an enchanting butterfly melee …
Valorant Agent 26 could be a plant-based initiator
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
More details about Valorant Agent 26 have emerged, and we may be looking at an initiator. Valorant agent 26, previously leaked with the codename Sherry, finally has more details. As previously speculated, Sherry may hail from Spain, as this is all we could glean from the leaked codename. But Riot has dropped major hints about the next agent’s toolkit, lore, origins, and more in Valorant episode 9, act 1 trailer. …
Riot Games has long looked to expand its footprint beyond the success of popular MOBA League of Legends, and one of its biggest successes to date in this regard is the tactical shooter, Valorant. Blending traditional first-person shooter elements with unique and flashy hero abilities, Valorant seeks to combine the best attributes of tactical shooters and hero shooters into one cohesive experience.
Based on player feedback, the game has largely succeeded in accomplishing those aims. It’s not an easy balance, and it’s one that is arguably still tenuous, but Riot Games seems to be doing as good a job of it as most fans have hoped for.
What type of game is Valorant?
Valorant is a first-person shooter that represents a unique blend of the tactical shooter and hero shooter subgenres. There are some games that represent similar gameplay elements, but not many that offer the exact experience that Valorant puts forward to players.
The tactical shooter genre is often considered to have been defined by the release of the original Counter-Strike, a multiplayer mod for famed single-player PC title Half-Life that later became a standalone game of its own. While most multiplayer FPS games to that point emphasized prolonged battles between opposing players zipping around the game at high speeds, Counter-Strike slowed things down significantly and made players much more susceptible to each other’s firepower, requiring players to take a more tactical approach to play.
That slower and more tactical approach, combined with the lightning-quick nature of action when it does occur, proved reliably popular. That popularity can still be seen today with the ongoing success enjoyed by the Counter-Strike franchise, and it’s this gameplay type that represents the core of Valorant. It’s no accident that former Counter-Strike developers were drafted by Riot Games to help create Valorant during the game’s formative stages.
What differentiates Valorant from CS and other tactical shooters it that each of the game’s characters, called agents, wield a number of unique abilities. Some are typical for tactical shooters, like flashbangs and smokes, while others are wildly different, such as an ability that transports two players to an isolated dueling arena for its duration.
These agent abilities are more reminiscent of hero shooters, a subgenre that arguably got its start with the Team Fortress games but has best been popularized by Blizzard title Overwatch. The abilities, combind with the tactical considerations that are at the core of Valorant, separate it from most any other FPS experience available for play.
How does Valorant esports work?
Like many other popular competitive shooters, Valorant does have a thriving esports scene. That scene is differentiated by the way it’s run and controlled by developer and publisher Riot Games. Riot uses a model based on the success of its League of Legends esports scene, which sees the globe’s competitive players and team’s separated by region. These regions play out their own competitions in their sections of the world before coming together at regular intervals for international tournaments featuring the best teams from each individual region.
While League of Legends once boasted a variety of regions and regional types, Riot sought to simplify that model when setting up esports for Valorant. The game has only a handful of major regions, and these regions are held as largely equitable, each sending their best teams to international events leading up to the year-end VALORANT Champions event.
