Valorant, Riot Games' team-based FPS, enters closed beta next week

[midian182]

Something to look forward to: League of Legends developer Riot Games will be releasing a competitive multiplayer title with an eSports focus this summer, but it's not another MOBA: Valorant is a first-person shooter in the Overwatch/Counter-Strike: Global Offensive mold.

Originally known as Project A, Valorant is a free-to-play, tactical 5v5 FPS featuring eight playable agents, each with their own special abilities. One team tries to plant a bomb behind enemy lines, while the defending team has to defuse it or last the round to win.

On Tuesday, April 7, Valorant will be going into closed beta, allowing fans to try out the game before its full launch. There’s no word on the number of players participating or how long it’ll last, but if you want to take part, you’ll need to create Riot and Twitch accounts and link the two together.

The closed beta won’t be available to everyone, only those in the US, Canada, Europe, Russia, and Turkey. As with so many things, Covid-19 is to blame, affecting the worldwide launch.

“Our plan was to bring the Valorant closed beta to as many players around the world as quickly as possible, but the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted those plans, compromising a wider global rollout,” said Valorant’s executive producer, Anna Donlon. “For now, we have to focus on the regions where we feel most ready, with more regions following in the months to come.”

Despite being a closed beta, the in-game currency—Valorant Points—and a fully functional store will be available. All the points earned during this time will be returned once the game launches, along with a 20 percent bonus for taking part. The devs did confirm, however, that progress in the beta won’t carry over to the full game.

Like most competitive multiplayer games, Valorant will play on the most potato-like of PCs. The minimum specs (30 fps) are listed as an Intel Core 2 Due E8400/Intel HD 3000 graphics, while 144+ fps only requires a Core i5-4460 3.2GHz and a GTX 1050 Ti.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/84615-valorant-riot-games-team-based-fps-enters-closed.html

 

[Hexic]

Has Riot had one game that hasn't been a clone or spin-off of a Blizzard game?

Serious question, it appears original IPs isn't their strong suit.

 

[Nobina]

Valorant is a first-person shooter in the Overwatch/Counter-Strike: Global Offensive mold.

OW and CSGO are not the same mold. Valorant was supposed to compete with Counter Strike but it definetely looks more like an Overwatch clone since it has abilites, heroes and whatnot. All points to game having "metas" where only a few heroes are viable the rest are garbage and tons of balancing issues. Every game like that has 'em. I'll be sure to give it a try when it comes out but I don't see it being bigger than Counter Strike after the initial hype.

 

[rrwards]

OW and CSGO are not the same mold. Valorant was supposed to compete with Counter Strike but it definetely looks more like an Overwatch clone since it has abilites, heroes and whatnot. All points to game having "metas" where only a few heroes are viable the rest are garbage and tons of balancing issues. Every game like that has 'em. I'll be sure to give it a try when it comes out but I don't see it being bigger than Counter Strike after the initial hype.

Honestly with the abilities and stuff it's looking a lot more like overwatch or maybe apex legends (but not in a battle royale setting). The reason games like this never dethrone counterstrike is because of the metas like you said. CSGO has guns, teamwork, and player skill. Beyond that, you can't "game" the system by picking the "OP" or "meta" heroes.

 

[moizy]

Honestly with the abilities and stuff it's looking a lot more like overwatch or maybe apex legends (but not in a battle royale setting). The reason games like this never dethrone counterstrike is because of the metas like you said. CSGO has guns, teamwork, and player skill. Beyond that, you can't "game" the system by picking the "OP" or "meta" heroes.

Having actually watched some of the gameplay, it is very very reminiscent of CSGO, heavy on the strategy and the aiming. The overwatch/csgo comparison is very appropriate