VALORANT (video game)

The VALORANT logo and title text in pink

VALORANT (video game) is a tactical first-person shooter video game published by Riot Games on June 2nd, 2020 for computers that run Windows in which two teams of five players face each other using guns and special abilities. There are several different game modes in which the number of rounds or weapons/abilities available are varied, but the premise of the game remains the same. Each character, or 'agent', has different skills on the field. There are different maps for players as well.

VALORANT is a free-to-play game, with optional in-game purchases. Players can purchase agents to play, or cosmetic appearances for their weapons. Agents and cosmetics can also be unlocked through continual play. A seasonal battle pass is also created periodically that players can purchase for additional cosmetics.

The game was first teased under the code name "Project A" in October 2019. A closed beta version for VALORANT was run in 2020 from April 7 to May 28.

Reveals for new characters and maps are often teased on various Riot Games social media accounts to prompt fans to solve a puzzle, theorize, or participate in a scavenger hunt to learn more. This allows the company to build hype around the release of new content.

A live viewing and broadcast of VALORANT Champions, one of the most popular VALORANT leagues

VALORANT E-sports are very popular, with many professional, collegiate, and open leagues available for teams to sign up for. Many tournaments are broadcast online for fans to watch.

Gameplay

In the traditional unranked or competitive VALORANT experience, two teams of five play to be the first team to score 13 points. Teams are placed on either the 'attacker' or 'defender' position, which dictates both their position on the map and their goal in the round, and the sides are switched after 12 rounds. Points can be scored in multiple ways:

1. If the attackers place the 'spike' on a designated site, and it is left alone long enough to detonate (if the defenders are eliminated after the spike is placed, the round ends as a point for the attackers)
2. If the defenders defuse the spike after it is placed, but before it detonates (if the attackers are eliminated after the spike is placed, the defenders must still defuse the spike before it detonates for a point)
3. If either team eliminates all members of the other team before the spike is placed
4. If the defenders prevent the attackers from placing the spike before a timer runs out.

If all players on both teams are eliminated simultaneously, the round ends in a draw.

A round starts with the option to purchase guns, armor, or abilities from the shop before the teams can interact with each other in any way. Credits in the shop are earned based on actions performed in the previous rounds, such as getting kills or placing the spike in the designated zone.

After a set amount of time where players can purchase items and communicate strategies with their teammates, walls separating the two teams from each other are dropped and players can attack each other. Teammates cannot hurt each other with guns, but some abilities can wound teammates. Once a player dies, they do not revive until the next round (unless they are resurrected by an ultimate ability).

Abilities

There are several roles encapsulating the purpose of agents on the battlefield:

1. Sentinel: Characters who can use their abilities to cover larger areas on their own
2. Initiator: Characters with abilities that can push enemies back, allowing their team to move forward
3. Controller: Characters that cover sight lines in order to set up the map to benefit their team
4. Duelist: Self-sufficient characters who are able to push forward first and use their abilities to get kills

The most common abilities include smokes, which cover lines of sight to protect teammates or hinder enemies, molotovs, which create temporary areas that damage friends and enemies and flashbangs, which blind enemies and sometimes teammates temporarily. Few characters have the ability to heal their teammates' wounds. Others have abilities that can locate enemies, preventing the element of surprise. There are a variety of temporary effects caused by other abilities:

• Slow: slows player movement
• Vulnerable: Players take more damage if they are attacked
• Deaf: Players are unable to hear for a brief period of time
• Concussed: Vision is warbled and fire rate is lowered
• Decay: Health is lowered significantly, but is restored upon expiration of the effect
• Suppressed: Player cannot use any abilities, only guns, until the effect expires
• Combat Stim: Increases fire rate and reload rate

Each character also has a unique ultimate ability, which must charge up by killing enemies, dying in rounds, or collecting 'ultimate orbs' on the map. Ultimate abilities often have the power to turn the tide of a round, allowing a team with fewer players alive to hold their own against greater numbers.

Lore

The gameplay of VALORANT is set in a futuristic world with travel between parallel worlds, which is meant to explain how the same character can appear on both teams. Agents with supernatural abilities are known as 'radiants', though many agents use technology on the battlefield instead. The 'spike' is a device used to collect 'radianite,' a mysterious but powerful material that agents are willing to die for to collect. Between rounds of game play, agents will often speak with each other, revealing pieces of their backstory and connections to the other agents. Lore is also revealed through cinematic animations published by Riot Games.