Valorant
Valorant
First skin bundle for Valorant weapon Outlaw leaked
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
Valorant
Here are all the Icebox changes in Valorant Episode 8
Fariha Bhatti
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 …
Valorant
Icebox is returning to VALORANT’s competitive map pool
Olivia Richman
Riot Games has confirmed that the competitive map pool is getting a big change in Episode 8. In a tweet earlier today, the VALORANT account shared some map changes for Episode 8. Icebox and Lotus will be getting updates for Episode 8 since they will be part of the next map pool rotation. Here is the full list of maps in the Episode 8 competitive map pool: Icebox Lotus Sunset …
Valorant
Leaks suggest Riot may remove Haven from Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Leakers have discovered that Haven may be removed from the Valorant map pool in Episode 8 to accommodate Icebox. Valorant map rotation was introduced in Episode 5 when Pearl was added to the mix. In each episode, Riot would swap out at least one map to make space for a previously removed or recently added location. In Episode 7, three maps were drawn to make space for Sunset, and now …
Valorant
New Valorant sniper Outlaw price and details leaked
Fariha Bhatti
The leakers weren’t trolling. The Outlaw sniper is real, and it’s coming soon to Valorant. Credible leakers rocked the Valorant community in October when they shared an image of an unseen weapon. Shaped like a Marshal, the speculated Outlaw sniper stirred doubt among many regarding the leak’s authenticity, with most inclined to believe it was a doctored image of the in-game inventory. It turns out that Outlaw is, in fact, …
Valorant
Upcoming Valorant bundle Overdrive leaked
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant is getting a brand new bundle called Overdrive. The first look at the collection has been leaked ahead of time. Riot recently announced Sentinels of Lights’ return to the Valorant shop. The 2.0 bundle included similar SoL skins in a new range of weapons, so if you haven’t already purchased the guns, hurry up because a new bundle has been leaked. Overdrive will replace Sentinels of Light as the …
Valorant
Here’s your first look at Drift, the latest Valorant map
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant TDM is getting a facelift with Drift, a fresh, beachy location with a three-lane layout. Team Deathmatch was originally released with three maps: Kasbah, Piazza, and District. Each of the locations looks like an extension of existing maps. Riot follows the same theme with Drift, inspired by Valorant map Pearl. Drift is a three-lane location, bringing the zip lines back to TDM. The visual scenery is fresh, with palm …
News
TenZ shares prototype of his secret mouse, apologizes for poor marketing model
Fariha Bhatti
After putting up his “secret mouse” for pre-orders, TenZ has now apologized for the questionable marketing model. He has also shared the early-stage prototype for the mouse. Earlier this week, one of the top Valorant pro players Tyson “TenZ” Ngo announced that he’s working on creating his own mouse. The announcement was supposed to rock the FPS community, considering players have been trying to replicate his accuracy for years, copying …
Valorant Community Challenges: How to participate, rewards
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot is giving the players more reasons to grind Valorant and boost their playtime. Community Challenges bring free rewards for all! Earlier, Riot introduced Kingdom Credits directly linked to Valorant playtime. Now, the developer is incentivizing players by presenting a three-week-long season of rewards. Community Challenges will be available for three weeks, during which players can earn coveted rewards that will go on to become rare commodities. Here’s all we …
New Team Deathmatch map getting revealed at Game Changers Finals
Olivia Richman
Valorant
A new Team Deathmatch map is being revealed at The Game Changers Grand Finals. The Valorant Game Changers Championship is where all the best Game Changers teams will clash to crown the champion. To make the event even more of a spectacle for viewers at home, Riot will be showcasing a new Team Deathmatch map. Ever since Team Deathmatch was introduced to Valorant there hasn’t been a new map for …
Sentinels of Light returns to Valorant with a dual-wielding knife
Fariha Bhatti
News
It’s official. Sentinels of Light is returning to Valorant. Valorant has dozens of skin bundles, but only a few have managed to leave a lasting impression on the player base. One of those bundles is Sentinels of Light. Steeped in lore and immersive backstory, the Sentinels of Light bundle is also easy on the eyes. If you didn’t have the money to purchase the coveted bundle back when it was …
Valorant patch 7.10 finally buffs underrated agent, Deadlock
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Deadlock is finally getting some love from Riot Games. The developer has delivered a significant buff for Deadlock in the latest Valorant patch, 7.10. Deadlock’s cold personality and killer looks weren’t enough to pull Valorant players towards her. Her kit was lacking compared to other sentinels, making her one of the less popular agents in Valorant. The recent buffs aim to make her more meta. Valorant patch 7.10 significantly buffs …
Valorant players left stunned by rare Iso and Kay/O interaction
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Iso’s ultimate is extremely powerful, but Valorant players are smarter. The community has discovered a new loophole in his Kill Contract, which results in Iso dying. Iso’s Kill Contract activates an energy field, taking players from the map and teleporting them into an alternate reality. Here, both players are separated by three walls, which disappear after a few seconds. With both enemies exposed to each other, it’s almost impossible for …
Killjoy’s Lockdown won’t work on Iso if he pulls off this trick
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Didn’t think you could handle Killjoy at her prime, equipped with a deadly lockdown? Well, now you can — only if you’re Iso. Valorant’s agent, Killjoy, is by far one the deadliest sentinels in the game. Thanks to her path-blocking powers, enemies are forced to think twice before stepping into the site. While players have discovered many counters to her utility, it’s still tricky to deal with her Lockdown once it …
Aspas leads the way with the most kills of any VCT player this year
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
The former LOUD superstar Erick “aspas” Santos had the most amount of kills of any player in the Valorant Champions Tour this year, according to player data released by Riot Games today. This year aspas managed to rack up 1402 kills this year, with his teammate Felipe “Less” de Loyola in second place with 1308, according to the data. Other pieces of data were released, with Sentinels player Tyson “TenZ” …
Fnatic emerged victorious at the Red Bull Home Ground 2023
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
European organization Fnatic defeated Cloud9 in the finals of the Red Bull Home Ground 2023 Valorant event to take the trophy. Yesterday, Fnatic took down Cloud9 in five hard-fought maps to continue the European team’s dominance in the Valorant competitive circuit even outside of the Valorant Champions Tour, where the team won two major tournaments earlier this year. The Red Bull Home Ground 2023 was one of the largest off-season …
Devs tease new creepy monsters called Smiling Critters for Poppy Playtime Chapter 3
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Mob Entertainment is teasing new monsters for the upcoming Poppy Playtime Chapter 3, and players couldn’t be more shook. Poppy Playtime games have multiple toys with human-like souls creeping up the toy-manufacturing company, but there’s always one main antagonist. However, the developer may be breaking away from the tradition, introducing multiple monsters in the upcoming chapter — at least, that’s what the teasers suggest. After teasing the prototype and a …
This Astra trick is perfect to counter Iso’s ultimate
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Iso is bulletproof, but he is not invincible. In order to tackle his ruthless ultimate, players may want to have Astra in their corner. Iso has officially entered the Valorant protocol as a merciless aimer, equipped with a shield. Two of his abilities are centered around damage prevention, but the ultimate stands out as the most lethal of all. Turns out, Astra can help survive his ultimate. Players have discovered …
100 Thieves sign eeiu to the Valorant roster
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
North American organization 100 Thieves has signed former M80 player Daniel “eeiu” Vucenovic to the Valorant roster, it was announced last night. Eeiu, known as one of the highest-performing players in the Challengers scene, but was unable to qualify for the Americas-partnered league following a defeat to The Guard in the grand final. But he’s got a chance to perform at the highest level following his pick-up by 100 Thieves. …
How to unlock the latest Valorant agent Iso
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Iso is the latest Valorant agent to join the duelist roster. Eager players can unlock the new agent right away or within 30 days, here’s how. Valorant patch 7.09 nerfs Raze and the beloved weapon Judge, but it also adds a powerful duelist to balance things. Iso joins the battle between the two earths as a stylish initiator-like duelist, weilded with a power to block bullets. Like every new agent, …
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.
