Valorant, a new esports-worthy game, has gained popularity with its beta release, where gamers can play and test the game before it launches.
Valorant is an upcoming team-based first-person shooter made by League of Legends-developer Riot Games. This developer is one of the masters of multiplayer online battle arena, but Valorant is their first attempt at making a first-person shooter.
While Valorant may be extremely different from League of Legends in terms of genre, it does have some similarities, such as allowing players to choose different champions with unique abilities on the battlefield.
Valorant shares similarities to developer Valve’s extremely successful esports game Counter-Strike. Because of this resemblance, Valorant might be the next big esports title.
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Valorant is similar to the Counter-Strike series as the game was designed by Salvatore “Volcano” Garozzo, former Counter-Strike professional player and map designer.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is still a popular competitive game to play despite being released in 2012. According to esports website The Loadout, competitors have won a total of $17,578,000 in prize money in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive events, making it one of the top five most popular esports as of 2019.
The Counter-Strike series has always been a game suited for the esports stage. It isn’t for casual players who want to unwind after a long day’s work. It takes time to master.
Valorant is similar, making the mouths of professional players water at the sight of a polished alternative to Counter-Strike.
Mirroring Counter-Strike, Valorant has modes ranging from a battle between two teams and a struggle to plant a bomb in a set location to win.
There’s an economy where players can buy weapons, abilities, armor and more every round. The weapons have a lot of recoil and players must learn their patterns to master them.
You might be thinking, “If Counter-Strike is still big, then why would Valorant make a dent in the esports scene?”
A big reason is the unique use of character abilities similar to other games such as Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch.
Garozzo said in a YouTube video that Valorant’s appeal comes from its characters’ abilities and
game mechanics.
“You know, we’re positioning ability usage and individual mechanical skill combined to create something special,” Garozzo said.
These abilities will add in a new layer of depth to a formula that’s been a proven success for the Counter-Strike series as an esport.
Valorant is set to be released this summer and is currently in closed beta, but the game will appeal to Counter-Strike players and those seeking a competitive first-person shooter to master.
The game is doing well on the live-streaming platform Twitch. It’s been consistently one of the more popular titles for viewers to watch.
ESPN has stated that Valorant garnered nearly 1.73 million views on Twitch during its closed beta. The amount of viewership was just short of beating League of Legends’ record at 1.74 million concurrent viewers.
The real kicker here is that according to Dot Esports, an esports website, Valorant will be free to play. Making the game free is a great business move for Riot Games if it wants Valorant to be successful as an esport.
Valorant may seem like an alternative for Counter-Strike enthusiasts, but as far as becoming a successful esport, it’s going to shoot down any competitors one sniper round at a time.
