Valorant is Riot Games new tactical FPS and formerly known as Project A.
Leaks and rumours ramped up in recent weeks and now we have an official announcement regarding maps, characters, price and much more.
This new 5v5 game is exciting gamers around the world as it is seen as the "spiritual successor" to CSGO; which are big shoes to fill.
So what is this new game all about? Here's everything we know about Valorant.
Be sure to bookmark this page and check back regularly, as we will update it with more information when it becomes available.
You can read all about Valorant by clicking the links below:
- Latest News
- Battle Pass
- Release Date
- Price And Microtransactions
- Beta
- What Is Valorant?
- Story
- Is It Good?
- Trailer
- Maps
- Characters And Abilities
- Character Tier List
- Weapons And Equipment
- PC Requirements
- Gameplay Screenshots
- Servers
Latest News
Brimstone Gameplay Trailer
All Twitch streamers with access to the closed beta can now drop keys
Riot will make it easier to gain access to the closed beta of its popular new tactical shooter Valorant, the game developer announced late Tuesday.
Now, not just select Twitch streamers, but all Twitch streamers who have access to the game can now drop the coveted beta access keys, so long as those streamers playing are actively live streaming the game and turn on the in-game drops feature.
Riot is also increasing its server load capacity by 25 percent to account for the spike in new players.
Cypher Gameplay
Free Valorant Points And Skins
Want to know how to get FREE Valorant Points and Skins? Find out here!
Is The Judge The most fun weapon to use?
The Judge is a room-clearing dream. Here's why.
Is The Operator Worth The Price?
Valorant's most expensive weapon, the Operator is worth it. Here's why.
New Leaked Hero - Raze
A group of sneaky leakers has uncovered a yet to be announced Valorant agent apparently known as 'Raze' from the game's files.Here's everything we know about her! Find out more here.
Jett Gameplay
Riot announces closed beta for Valorant
Valorant’s closed beta is set to go live on April 7th, 2020.
Meaning players will have just over a week from Riot’s announcement to prepare themselves for the grind of their lives.
The regions that will have access to Valorant’s closed beta are: Canada, Europe, Russia, Turkey, and the United States.
Riot will be giving fans the opportunity to play the Valorant beta by loading up selected Twitch streams.
Assuming fans have linked their Riot and Twitch accounts, all they'll need to do is tune into specific Valorant streams (which will be highlighted on Twitch).
Valorant Playtest Details
- New Agent - We now have information on a new ninth agent, Breach. His abilities are Aftershock, Flashpoint and Fault Line. Flashpoint acts as a flash grenade would, while Fault Line acts like a stun grenade, making it difficult for enemies to aim. His ultimate ability Rolling Thunder is not yet clear, however testers commented that it was quite powerful.
- Ranked Play - The ranks are as follows: Mercenary, Soldier, Veteran, Hero, Legend, Mythic, Immortal, and Valorant. All of these ranks (excluding Valorant) will have three tiers to progress through.
- Game Win Conditions - A game of Valorant will end when a team reaches 13 round wins. The maximum amount of rounds that can be played are 25. If a game goes to a 12-12 situation, the game has a final overtime round. Games will not end in a tie.
- Cosmetics & Private Servers - As previously reported, Valorant will feature a cosmetic system with Weapon Charms, Sprays and Weapon Skins. These skins will all come in sets. The sets can be unlocked by completing in-game challenges (contracts). Additionally, it also looks like the game will have private servers. Currently, the servers only support up to 10 players.
Sage Gameplay
Phoenix Gameplay
Viper Gameplay
SOVA Gameplay
Stretched Res
Riot Games dev hints that Valorant won't allow stretched res:
In a lot of PC games, it's possible to use a different aspect ratio and resolution to create a 'stretched res'.
This can be used by players and some feel that it gives them an advantage, as targets look a lot wider, and are easier to hit, because they take up more pixels.
Senior Game Designer Trevor 'Classick' Romleski suggested that 'stretched res' won't be an option in the game.
Players have been practicing ready for the Valorant release, and Classick said: "If you're going to use 4:3, I would recommend NOT stretching if you're practicing for Valorant."
Battle Pass
During an interview with Polygon, Riot Games mentioned it has no intention of using their League of Legends approach, a formula that has worked spectacularly.
“There are no character skins in the game, nor are there specific plans to add them,” the article reads. “The development team said that they’re a possibility in the future, but for now, the focus is on gun skins.”
As well as this, there will not be loot boxes in the game.
“Valorant will not have loot boxes. Players will be able to directly purchase the skins they want from the store… Though there are skin packs that bundle a few weapon skins together based on their theme.”
The most noticeable addition, however, is the fact Riot will be following the battle pass formula in their new 5v5 shooter.
“There is a battle pass-like system in Valorant, that gives players new cosmetic rewards the more they play.”
At the time of writing, there aren't exact details on what to expect from the upcoming battle pass.
Be sure to bookmark this page as we'll have the latest information on the Valorant battle pass!
Release Date
It's been recently revealed that the game will release in the summer of 2020 after outlets were invited to a hands-on preview event.
How Much Will Valorant Cost?
Valorant will be free-to-play for everyone that downloads the game.
There will be microstransactions in place that Riot Games have confirmed to be purely cosmetic and have no impact on gameplay.
Read More: Valorant: Price, DLC And Microtransactions
Beta
Closed Beta signups are now live! You can sign up here.
To gain access to the beta you need to have linked your Riot Games account to your Twitch account.
You then need to watch one of your favourite streamers on Twitch, who is playing Valorant, with drops enabled.
Once you have a key, it will notify you in the notifications tab.
The closed beta will end in the summer.
What Is Valorant?
Valorant, previously known as Project A, is a precise tactical shooter with a lethal cast of characters, set on a near-future Earth.
The game has officially been announced including 128-tick servers and at least 30 frames per second on most min-spec computers (even dating back a decade), 60 to 144 FPS on modern gaming rigs, a global spread of data centres aimed at <35ms for players in major cities around the world, a robust net code and a commitment to anti-cheat from day one.
The game will feature a 5v5 setup with a CSGO style buy menu and the ability to buy for your teammates.
Many people are likening this game to be a hybrid between Overwatch and Counter-Strike; it wouldn't be a surprise if Riot has drawn inspiration from two of the most popular FPS games of all time.
In this new FPS, abilities can be utilised to change the dynamic of the battlefield and gameplay; which will allow your gunplay to shine.
The game has also promised to include a global infrastructure and an improved net code, including putting top-notch anti-cheating mechanics.
Story
Valorant won't just be a simple shooter - there will be a backstory to it that evolves and grows as the game progresses.
Valorant is set on Earth in the near future with futuristic tech. At some point, there’s a mysterious world-wide event called "First Light".
Although it's unclear what this event is, it gives certain people around the world new hyper-natural powers.
These powers brought about massive global changes, including the rise of new governments.
In response, a new organisation called Valorant is created by secretive backers.
Is It Good? - Notes From Henry G
On Twitter, HenryG stated that the game feels very similar to CS:GO if he had to pick a comparison. He played a list of games with five-on-five combat, and it felt like a proper tactical shooter.
He noted that the matches that he played required a whopping 12 rounds for one team to win a game, it had attackers and defenders that switched halfway through the game, and the maps had two bomb sites.
This sounds very much like CS:GO which is very exciting!
Gameplay And Trailers
Here's the first teaser/trailer for the new game to announce its new title.
You can also see a full round of gameplay on an alpha build.
Back in October of last year, Riot Games announced the new FPS at Riot Pls.
Maps
There will be FOUR maps at launch, but we only have information on two so far:
- Haven
- Bind
More maps will come in the future, but how many and how often is yet to be confirmed.
Read More: Valorant: All Confirmed Maps In Project A
Characters And Abilities
The game so far features 8 characters, also known as agents:
Be sure to check out our guides about each character by clicking the name of the character.
Read More: Valorant: All Confirmed Characters, Heroes and Abilities
Character Tier List
Now we've seen the characters in the game here are the characters that we think are the best:
- Jett
- Sage
- Sova
- Phoenix
Read More: Valorant: Character Tier List And Best Agents To Use
Weapons And Equipment
So far there appears to be 17 weapons in the game and there are six categories:
- Rifles
- Bulldog (costs 2,100)
- Guardian (costs 2,700)
- Phantom (costs 2,900)
- Vandal
- SMGs
- Stinger (costs 1,000)
- Spectre (costs 1,600)
- Shotguns
- Bucky (costs 900)
- Judge (costs 1,500)
- Snipers
- Marshal (costs 1,100)
- Operator (4,500)
- Heavy
- Ares (costs 1,700)
- Odin (costs 3,200)
- Sidearms
- Classic
- Shorty (costs 200)
- Frenzy (costs 400)
- Ghost (costs 500)
- Sheriff (costs 800)
You can also buy Light Shields for 400 and Heavy Shields.
PC Requirements
Hardware recommendations:
- Operating system: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
- RAM: 4GB
- VRAM: 1GB
Minimum specs:
- CPU: Intel i3-370M
- GPU: Intel HD 3000
Gameplay Screenshots
Servers
According to a post in Reddit Valorant will have more than 300 servers.