Valorant
Valorant
Clove is currently banned from Valorant pro play
Olivia Richman
New Valorant agent Clove is not coming to pro play as soon as expected. Riot Games announced earlier today that a recently discovered bug is going to delay Clove’s debut in pro play. On the official Valorant esports channel, it was stated that Clove’s “eligibility or International league (VCT) competition will be put on hold.” Previously, Clove was going to arrive for week two of Stage One. Unfortunately, some in-game …
Valorant
Valorant players disappointed with Night Market, call for a rework
Fariha Bhatti
Players are no longer happy with Valorant’s skin thrift store, Night Market, and are calling for a rework. According to the community, the skins are cheap, repetitive, and boring. Like every other Act, Riot took to social media and announced the next Valorant Night Market, a store featuring skins at a cut price. Depending on the skin tier, the discount can range between 8% to 50%. It’s a great way …
Valorant
Valorant announces agent ability swap for patch 4.1
Fariha Bhatti
Riot Games is swapping agent abilities in Valorant in patch 4.1. Or is it? The developer behind Valorant takes April Fools seriously, rolling out prank updates each year that never really make it to the game. From a dating sim to Wide Joy mode, Riot has teased insane concepts. However, innocuous players often fall for the ridiculous patch notes, and this year wasn’t much different. On April 1, Valorant Japan …
Valorant
Is the Sovereign 2.0 bundle in Valorant worth it?
Olivia Richman
Valorant has confirmed that the Sovereign 2.0 bundle is coming. Trusted leakers in the Valorant community recently shared that the Sovereign 2.0 bundle is in the works. Initially leaked at the start of March, leakers explained that it’s “coming soon,” bringing elegant designs to some of the most popular weapons. Here is everything we now know about the Sovereign 2.0 bundle in Valorant. It appears that the leaks are true. …
Valorant
New Valorant map known as Bastion leaked
Olivia Richman
A new Valorant map has been leaked, revealing a location known as Bastion. Valorant currently has 15 playable maps, each ranging in layout, style, and strategy. The wide range of maps has allowed for different agents and weapons to shine and forced players to learn the ins and outs of each map’s unique features. Now, a new map is likely joining the map pool, according to trusted insiders. Hidden within …
Valorant
Here’s how to create a Valorant support ticket
Fariha Bhatti
Players often reach out to Riot Games via a Valorant support ticket when they need assistance with their official account. You may contact Riot directly if you’re running into a unique issue. Valorant support is often used to tackle issues that don’t have a standard solution. Most problems players run into are already posted on the official Riot website, along with a solution. But sometimes, players would contact Riot with …
Valorant
What happened between Sagemommy and Jettdaddy?
Olivia Richman
Valorant drama is so unserious sometimes. If you play Valorant, you may have noticed some strange drama unfolding between two players named Sagemommy and Jettdaddy. If the memes are confusing you, here is what we know about the internet drama surrounding the two Valorant players. Sagemommy and Jettdaddy are two players who had matching in-game names and would often stream themselves playing together. With 241K followers on Twitch and 96.2K …
Valorant
Upcoming Valorant agent Clove is non-binary
Fariha Bhatti
The upcoming Valorant agent Clove, codenamed “smonk,” is non-binary, according to leakers. Riot Games makes a point of promoting inclusivity and diversity in Valorant through agents, languages, and tournaments. After confirming Killjoy and Raze as girlfriends, the developer is now highlighting different gender identities, starting with a non-binary agent. So far, all Valorant agents use he/she pronouns, but Clove would change that. In a recent email, Deadlock used “they” while …
How to get free Valorant Masters Madrid drops on Twitch
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant Masters Madrid is Riot Games’ first international LAN for the 2024 VCT season. It pits eight top teams against each other to earn Championship Points. However, players can also gain something while enjoying the prestigious event. Masters Madrid will feature two top teams from each region battling it out for this year’s biggest event. Players will be able to earn drops for as long as the first Valorant LAN …
Who is Clove in Valorant?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games recently dropped a brand new teaser for Valorant Agent 25 and leakers have already discovered their official name. Here’s what we know about Clove. After teasing the upcoming agent in State of Agents, Riot shared a new image on March 4. The teaser image featured a hand similar to Astra’s and a butterfly, a recurring theme in previous Valorant teasers. However, the developer is still tightlipped about the …
Valorant cheaters hit with a massive ban wave
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot has wiped a large number of cheaters in Valorant ahead of upcoming episode 8, act 2, according to reports. Cheating is a problem in gaming that players have to come to terms with. To some extent, it’s unavoidable, but Valorant has managed to tackle the cheating problem pretty well. After rolling out new features and ways to filter out cheaters, Riot has now pulled out the ban hammer, resulting …
Valorant Agent 25 will be a controller based out of Scotland
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot has dropped new info on upcoming Valorant Agent 25, previously data mined as “Smokedancer.” The agent will be joining the controller roster later in March. Valorant agent lineup features enough controllers to lock down a site and keep enemies at bay, but Riot is now planning a new spin to the category. Leakers have dug out unique abilities, and Riot’s official statement seems to confirm them as well. On …
Riot announces VCT Team Capsules featuring fancy player cards
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games has unveiled highly coveted VCT Team Capsules for the 2024 esports season, and they are jaw-dropping. In 2023, Riot promised to include teams in the game with in-game cosmetics. The developer is now making good on its word by introducing VCT Team Capsules featuring skin and sprays with the team logo and colors. The capsules will remain up for grabs throughout the 2024 season, starting February 21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3AOg7mUP_Y&t=4s The VCT …
Valorant announces Valentine’s Day bundle with a cute gun buddy
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot is celebrating Valentine’s Day in Valorant with Link Up and Lock In, a cute accessory bundle. Valorant agents have immersive backstories and lore. But, most importantly, they believe in true love, no matter how much trauma it has caused them. For this reason, each year, Riot adds either in-game easter eggs or items to commemorate Valentine’s Day. This year, Valorant’s “Duo Day” will be marked by a cute Link …
Xerofang bundle draws mixed reaction from Valorant players
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant Xerofang bundle celebrates the Lunar New Year 2024 with an RGB kill banner, ancient beasts, and jaw-dropping animations. Like every year, Lunar Year 2024 brings a brand new gun bundle to Valorant. With its over-the-top animations and an action-packed trailer, Xerofang is already making waves among the Valorant players. Xerofang bundle was announced on February 7, along with the return of the in-game esports hub and update to Viper’s …
Valorant map Haven is now playable in CS2 custom games
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Have you ever wondered how Valve would design Valorant maps? This map creator has reimagined Valorant maps in CS2 style. An indie map creator has brought Haven into Counter Strike 2 using the latest Source 2 Engine. According to the creator, the project took two months to complete. Most Valorant recreations in CS2 maintain Riot’s style and color palette. Vibrant greenery and vivid objects are typical among all Valorant maps …
New Valorant Emberclad bundle looks like Elderflame on budget
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
After releasing a VFX-heavy Kuronami bundle, Riot is now adding a much simpler yet decorative Emberclad bundle to Valorant. Kuronami retailed at 9,500 VP as an exclusive category collection that players loved. Now, leakers have dug out a brand new collection dubbed Emberclad, which is a mix of fancy and simple exterior. The metal black skins are still a mystery as Riot hasn’t officially confirmed their arrival, and only an …
Valorant patch 8.01 nerfs Skye, fixes Breeze, and more
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant patch 8.01 brings ample changes to agents and recently tweaked map Breeze, including a heavy nerf for Skye. The recent patch 8.01 focuses on balancing agents and playgrounds to fuel a fair game. After experimenting with big map changes, Riot has reverted a significant change on Breeze. But that’s not all. Skye has landed under Riot’s Nerf hammer while ISO sees some much-needed balancing. Here are all the major …
First skin bundle for Valorant weapon Outlaw leaked
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
The new Valorant weapon Outlaw is finally debuting in episode 8, and leakers have also dug out the first skin bundle called Throwback Pack for the new gun. Outlaw is making a debut in Episode 8, and since skins are a big part of Valorant, Riot wasn’t going to roll out a gun without exclusive cosmetics. Outlaw will have its own skin bundle called Throwback Pack. The two-bullet sniper is deadly …
Here are all the Icebox changes in Valorant Episode 8
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Kingdom Labour is back from vacation, moving crates that have been laying dormant on Icebox for over two years. The new Icebox is much cleaner and allows for more maneuverability across the map. The icy tundra is the home turf of agents whose abilities shine in maps with high verticality and sky openings. But, Icebox was a pain for other agents who performed better on the terrain. Now, Riot has …
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.
