Valorant, aka Project A, expected to come out in Summer

Riot first teased their FPS game as project A, with only a few snippets of gameplay. After many months, Riot has finally released more details on their upcoming FPS. Riot has officially put a name to Project A, Valorant.

Playvalorant.com, the official site for the game has finally arrived. Riot has decided to release more information about the game, gearing up for its launch they have uploaded 101 seconds of gameplay footage, teasing fans even harder.

© Riot Games

Not your ordinary FPS

While in nature Valorant is a first person shooter, it is not simply your ordinary FPS.

Valorant, unlike games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, has special skills which players can purchase and use in fights. This increases play making opportunity, and not only limits the skill difference of players primarily to aiming. However, unlike Overwatch, Valorant’s skill system is different, as skills are purchased at the start of every round, providing a greater advantage to the winning team.

Many have already compared Valorant as a cross between CS:GO, R6 and Overwatch, with the game having an even balance between the importance of traditional FPS gameplay, and the use of skills and abilities.

Valorant release date

Currently Riot has not revealed any specific details regarding the release date of Valorant. However, it has been mentioned they will aim to release the game either slightly prior, or at the beginning of the US summer break, around late June to early August. This is highly likely considering Riot has announced the game to the public, but is yet still in a stage where only content creators, pros and other invitees have been trialing the game.

Subsequently, we can also expect the Valorant beta to be released prior to the Summer, and hence expect beta testing sign ups to roll out within the coming weeks.

Characters

To date, those who have already trialed the game have mentioned there are currently 8 different characters. These characters all have unique skills: one “passive”, two skills, and one ultimate. The “passive” refers to the free skill a champion gains at the start of every round. Therefore, despite even if a player is behind in kills, they have access to a skill. The two other skills can be purchased at the start of every round. The ultimate can only be earned through killing opponents.

Overall, this will increase the advantage of players / teams in the lead, allowing for a snowball effect. That said, as skills are not everything, opponents can still come back.

© Riot Games

Graphics and Performance

While admittedly, Valorant does not exactly have amazing graphics, especially considering that it’s a game launching in mid-late 2020, developers have been assuring the performance of the game for all players. The Valorant website mentions all players will be able to run the game at least with 30fps, even those with minimum specs. While 30fps is not anything amazing, it ensures most of the world; even those with sub par computers a decade old can access and play the game.

As a matter of fact, in the initial teaser developers specifically mentioned the delay, response time / latency between servers would be dramatically reduced compared to other games. Riot states they aim to bring 35 ping or below for all players in major cities around the world.

For a fast paced game full of play making opportunities, split seconds count, and with Valorant, Riot assures ping and lag will not be an issue.

Skins in Valorant

Valorant, like League of Legends, will earn the primary of its income through the sale of skins. However, in opposition of recent drama surrounding the link between loot boxes and gambling, Valorant will not use a loot box model. This will means skins will be up for sale directly.

Comments are closed.