Riot Games developed and published VALORANT, a free-to-play first-person tactical shooter video game. The game is currently powered by Unreal Engine 4.
It was revealed as VALORANT on March 2, 2020, after being announced on October 15, 2019 under the codename "Project A." It was officially released for PC on June 2nd, 2020.
By the time VALORANT celebrated its first anniversary, it had 14 million active monthly players, and Riot announced that the game would soon be available on mobile platforms, with console platforms being considered but not as seriously. There are no plans to enable PC-to-mobile cross-play[1][2].
Story
VALORANT takes place in a near-future version of Earth, following an event known as First Light. This event will have a global impact, causing significant changes in life, technology, and the way governments operate. However, a few people around the world begin to gain abilities as a result of this massive event. Radiants are the name given to these gifted individuals.
In response to First Light, a shadow organization establishes the VALORANT Protocol, which brings agents from all over the world together. These Agents are made up of Radiants and other people who have access to Radiant technology. The VALORANT team has interesting dynamics due to the characters' backstories, as the individuals not only occasionally know each other, but also come from a diverse range of backgrounds ranging from crime to the military.
Gameplay
VALORANT is a competitive tactical shooter played in first person. It is set in a near-future Earth and features a cast of characters known as agents, each with their own set of abilities to create tactical opportunities.
Ten players are divided into two teams, Attackers and Defenders, with the goal of winning as many rounds as possible. A team must eliminate the opposing team or complete their team-specific spike objective to win a round. The game is won by the first team to reach 13 rounds. The game begins in a lobby, where players must select their Agent. The lobby is only active for 80 seconds, or until everyone has locked in their Agent. Each Agent can only be chosen by one team, and players cannot see which Agent has been chosen by the opposing team until the first Buy Phase. The Buy Phase lasts 30 seconds and occurs before each round. During the Buy Phase, most areas of the map are inaccessible, and the two teams are unable to meet. As a result, Attackers are unable to enter sites and are restricted to areas near their spawn zone, whereas Defenders can freely move between sites but not further. During this phase, players can also purchase weapons, shields, and abilities.
Agents
Agents are made up of people with superhuman abilities known as Radiants and people who use radianite technology. Each has their own Signature Ability as well as an Ultimate Ability that they can use to create and allow tactical opportunities. Riot Games previously stated that they intended to launch VALORANT with 12 agents, with the goal of releasing a new one every act, as long as that act did not contain other major content releases, such as new maps.
Weapons
Players can use a variety of weapons, each with its own set of attributes to cater to specific playstyles, as well as corresponding strengths and weaknesses. Weapons can be purchased with credits during the Buy Phase, purchased for teammates, or picked up when dead players drop them. They are classified into the following groups:
- Sidearms
- SMGs
- Shotguns
- Heavy
- Snipers
- Melee
Abilities
Unlike Weapons, abilities survive death and between rounds of the same half. Each agent has two Basic Abilities that must be purchased between rounds but remain active until used. They each have one Signature Ability and one Ultimate Ability. Signature abilities are usually free and/or replenished every round or every two kills. Ultimate Ability can be used after obtaining 6 or 7 ultimate points (depending on the agent) through kills, spike plants, ultimate orbs, and so on.
Technical Features
- 128-tick servers
- At least 30 frames per second on most computers with minimal specifications and 60 to 144 FPS on modern gaming rigs.
- A global spread of datacenters aimed at <35ms for players in major cities around the world
- A well developed netcode.
- Anti-cheat services on launch day
Development
The project was conceived in early 2013 by a small R&D team of Riot Games designers looking to innovate genres with closed legacy loops into live service games. Tactical shooters are demanding and competitive, with a reputation for upholding competitive integrity. These concepts became central to the project, and the game was created in tandem with anti-cheat measures.
"Project A" Announcement
On October 15, 2019, Riot Games announced VALORANT under the codename "Project A" in their 10th Anniversary edition of their "Riot Pls" blog, which celebrated 10 years since the release of their multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. The executive producer, Anna "SuperCakes" Donlon, describes the game as a "character-based tactical shooter" with competitive aspects and precise gunplay in an announcement video. She also claims that the game is set in a "beautiful, near-future Earth" and that it features a "lethal cast of characters, each with their own unique abilities."
Riot goes on to say that the game will maintain the high-context gameplay of other competitive tactical shooters while also introducing new character abilities that create and open tactical opportunities. Riot focused on resolving technical issues common in other competitive shooters, focusing on improving global infrastructure and netcode to reduce server ping and combat peeker's advantage. An anti-cheat system is also being developed as part of the game.
The announcement video received generally positive feedback, with many people drawing parallels between Project A and other competitive shooters such as Valve Corporation's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch. Gregg "Riot Games' vice president of IP and Entertainment, Ghostwalker" Street, responded to the Overwatch comparisons on Twitter, saying, "While we are honored by comparisons between Riot's Project A and Overwatch, the two aren't really in the same genre." Project A is a shooter with a tactical mindset. The lethality rate is high, and you do not respawn. The importance of map control and gunplay cannot be overstated. The abilities are more utilitarian in nature." [4]
Official Reveal
Riot Games officially revealed the title: VALORANT on March 2, 2020. They announced that the game will be free to play, with a release date of Summer 2020. In addition to revealing the game's title, Riot Games established official social media accounts for VALORANT, as well as its own website and gameplay details.
Closed Beta
On April 7–May 28, VALORANT held a closed beta in the following regions and countries: Europe, Canada, the United States, Turkey, Russia, and CIS countries. Select streamers were granted access via Twitch drops, while other players were chosen at random.
System Requirements
| Minimum (30 FPS) | Recommended (60 FPS) | High-end (144+ FPS) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 7/8/10 64-bit | Windows 7/8/10 64 bit | Windows 7/8/10 64 bit |
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (Intel) Athlon 200GE (AMD) | Intel i3-4150 (Intel) Ryzen 3 1200 (AMD) | Intel i5-9400F 2.90GHz (Intel) Ryzen 5 2600X (AMD) |
| GPU | Intel HD 4000 Radeon R5 200 | GeForce GT 730 Radeon R7 240 | GTX 1050 Ti Radeon R7 370 |
| RAM | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| VRAM | 1 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
Servers
The regional servers used to play VALORANT are listed below. Only accounts registered in that region or mapped region are permitted to play on that region's server. Players are unable to switch servers. [5] [6] [7] [8]
| Server Region / Name | Abbreviation | Hosted Location(s) | Mapped region(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | NA (NA1) |
| |
| Europe | EU |
| MENA |
| Turkey | TR | ||
| Southeast Asia | SEA |
| AP (Shard) |
| South Asia | SA |
| AP (Shard) |
| South Korea | KR |
| |
| Japan | JP |
| |
| Oceania | OCE |
| |
| CIS Countries +Ukraine | CIS |
| |
| Latin America (LATAM) | LAS, LAN | ||
| South America | SA |
Trivia
To prevent gaming addiction (which is required for games in China), if you play for more than 3 hours, your in-game income will be reduced by 50%.
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