Valorant
News
Valorant is officially getting a server in the Middle East
Nina Forneloza
Riot Games has announced that on October 14, Valorant will expand its servers to the Middle East with the launch of newly dedicated servers for the region. Arabic language support will also be added to the new tactical first-person shooter and will be available across all regions. This comes shortly after an Arabic Valorant website was launched on October 1, sparking fan interest and rumors of the possibility of a …
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When will pausing be added to Valorant? Developers give answers
Nina Forneloza
A new Ask Valorant has been released and it gave fans answers on some of the game’s lingering questions. The most significant topic addressed for most Valorant fans regarded in-game pauses. While pausing in games is something that fans often take for granted, no clear answers were given in terms of how Valorant will handle this seemingly basic function. “You should allow an in-game pause per team, because sometimes we …
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Valorant’s First Strike Europe open qualifier dates revealed
M Alzamora
Riot Games has announced the dates and eligibility requirements for First Strike Europe. First Strike is Valorant’s first major tournament, and the developer is making sure that it’s available to almost everyone, starting with players in Europe. The tournament’s online open qualifiers will begin on November 9 and run until November 22, leaving plenty of time for teams to practice and form up. It isn’t just one large qualifier, either. …
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Valorant Act 3 battle pass includes weapon skins, sprays, gun buddies
Olivia Richman
Valorant Act 3 is coming October 13, bringing a new battle pass along with it. The battle pass will cost 1,000 Valorant Points, which is about $10 if players don’t already have the points. The battle pass will last the entirety of the season, meaning it will be available until Episode 2 in 2021. Per usual, the battle pass will feature 50 tiers, plus Epilogue tiers, that players must unlock …
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Valorant Episode 1 Act III will introduce new agent
Olivia Richman
Valorant fans were excited when Riot announced a new map for Act III. Developers originally stated that Icebox would be coming in Episode 2, but surprised players with its early release to avoid an “empty episode scenario.” It seemed like a good move, considering Valorant players only had three maps to cycle through previously. The exciting development made players even more hyped for what Act III will have in store …
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Valorant Act 3 will include new winter-themed map Icebox
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant’s map pool will finally get some new scenery as Riot has announced the addition of a new map, Icebox. The developers dropped a teaser trailer on social media that featured some interesting clips from the new locale. Take on the tundra when Icebox drops with Act III. pic.twitter.com/Mu7OzbLHXF — VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) October 6, 2020 Icebox will be the second addition to Valorant’s standard map rotation after Ascent. Initially, the …
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All the key points and features in Valorant’s new map Icebox
Olivia Richman
After weeks of teasing, Valorant finally introduced a new map called Icebox. Icebox will be coming to Valorant when Act III begins next week. The snow-covered map features a giant battleship on one side of the map, pulled into a dockyard with large shipping containers. There’s a big building with multiple floors on the other side of the map, complete with ropes that appear to act like ziplines. Parts of …
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Riot plans competitive matchmaking changes for Valorant Act 3
Fariha Bhatti
Riot’s tactical shooter Valorant will soon be getting some significant updates to its competitive matchmaking. The changes will be implemented in Act 3, which begins on October 27. Riot announced upcoming changes in competitive mode in the new episode of developer diaries. Game director Joe Ziegler and systems design lead David Cole talked about the issues in matchmaking and discussed future updates that fans should expect from Act 3. Matchmaking …
Your ultimate guide to Valorant shotguns
Olivia Richman
News
Valorant’s shotguns play a big role in Riot’s first-person shooter. But which of the shotguns are the best to use, and when do you want to use them? To properly excel at Valorant, players must first understand the game’s economy. There’s a buy phase at the start of each round, allowing agents to purchase weapons and abilities with creds earned in previous rounds. Players earn creds through results. For example, …
Viper still rarely played after buffs, but is she still bad?
Fariha Bhatti
News
Riot’s tactical shooter Valorant initially featured ten agents, with Viper being one of the fan favourites due to her feisty aesthetic. However, Viper soon became the least picked agent and recent buffs are not helping her. The toxic agent may have a sharp appearance, but players are not a fan of her kit. Viper is the least picked agent with a 3.2% pick rate alongside the initiator Breach, according to …
Valorant bug prevents players from picking certain agents
Olivia Richman
News
Valorant Patch 1.09 introduced some features that are not working as intended. Riot Games added a new feature to their FPS that allows players to pin their chat window across menus. Players immediately took to Reddit to point out that this change made it so players with certain resolutions can’t choose Breach, the agent furthest to the left, since he’s blocked by the chat window. Players with 5:4 or 4:3 …
Team Heretics enters Valorant esports by signing loWel, pAura
Fariha Bhatti
News
Spanish esports organization Team Heretics has announced the signings of Christian “loWel” Garcia Antoran and Melih “pAura” Karaduran. The duo are the first members of its new Valorant lineup. This will not be either players’ first foray into Valorant, as the duo played together under the Team Inferno banner in August. Both players played just two games with Inferno, losing to Ninjas in Pyjamas and Giants Gaming at LVL Clash …
100 Thieves has just revealed its full Valorant roster
M Alzamora
News
100 Thieves finalized its official Valorant on October 2 with the signing of former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competitor Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk and 17-year-old Valorant pro Quan “dicey” Tran. The duo joins three of CSGO’s most experienced players, including former Team Liquid stars Spencer “Hiko” Martin and Nick “nitr0” Cannella and former Chaos Esports Club’s Joshua “steel” Nissan. 100 Thieves now has a complete Valorant roster ready for North American competition. …
Valorant teases big update, but is it a new map or a new agent?
Olivia Richman
News
Valorant’s Episode 1 Act 3 is coming October 5. With the next act fast approaching, Valorant has been teasing the update on Twitter. On September 24, Valorant asked players, “Who is on the bench?” Who’s on the bench? pic.twitter.com/EmVy08XYqD — VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) September 24, 2020 Valorant fans took to Reddit to discuss the possible meaning behind the cryptic tweet. Some players noted that the question references a bench on the …
Valorant’s skin bundles are only available for a limited time
M Alzamora
News
Riot’s monetization plans may not include loot boxes, but the developer has found a safer way to entice players into buying Valorant’s cosmetic weapon bundles. Valorant’s high-end weapon skin bundles are only available in a collection format for a limited time before the cosmetics leave the store forever. While players may get the opportunity to purchase the game’s flashy skins, like those found in its Elderflame Collection, they will only …
The operator finally gets nerfed, but not everyone agrees
Olivia Richman
News
Valorant developers have big nerfs in mind for the Operator after players have continued to call the weapon OP. At first, developers seemingly denied that the Operator was overpowered despite many players claiming there were no strategies to outplay the expensive weapon. Valorant game designer Nicholas “Nickwu” Smith said in a developer blog that the Operator wasn’t OP, but that developers were looking for ways to “smooth out the experience.” …
Former CSGO pros are winning most Valorant tournaments
M Alzamora
News
Former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro players have won almost all of Valorant’s cash prizes since the game’s esports debut. Counter-Strike players that have switched from Valve’s shooter to Valorant esports make up 88% of the game’s top prize winners. The top ten teams in prize money for Riot’s ability-based tactical shooter are enjoying the skills of CSGO’s deep talent pool, with 44 out 50 players on those teams having started …
Stats show that every Valorant map favors the defense
M Alzamora
News
A breakdown of Valorant’s kill-to-death ratios and side win rates show that the game’s defensive players kill more often and win more rounds than attackers, often by large margins. Players have thought that Valorant’s attacking side is the game’s more difficult side to play, and now map statistics show that there is a lot of truth behind that feeling. Statistics sites all show that on each of Valorant’s four maps, …
Valorant’s new G.U.N. skin line inspired by science fiction
Olivia Richman
News
Valorant is already getting another skin line. It was just September 15 when Valorant announced its EGO skin line, which featured darker themes for the strongest weapons in each class. This included a gold-tipped knife that players couldn’t keep their eyes off of. High risk // high heat // 9.17 pic.twitter.com/YBEbFVEQlS — VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) September 15, 2020 But Valorant is already bringing a new skin line to its loyal fans. …
Valorant exploring left-hand view models, hit registration
M Alzamora
News
Riot’s “Ask Valorant #8” came with even more insight into the developer’s plans for the future of the first-person shooter. Riot sat down and took another round of community questions this week, giving some answers regarding the possibility of left-handed viewmodels, improved gameplay experiences, and queue concerns after the patch 1.08 map rotation fix. The actual answers included more admissions of considerations than actual answers, but the blog’s insight left …
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.
