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.