"Valorant" is coming to consoles

The popular tactical game Valorant, developed by Riot Games, will soon be available on the PS5 and Xbox series consoles, opening the door to a wide range of players who prefer to play on consoles.

It is a free and extremely popular competitive first-person shooter game, created by the company Riot Games, also known for the game League of Legends. This hero shooter was first released in 2020 and has enjoyed constant popularity ever since. It is often compared to the game Counter Strike, due to the similar gameplay dynamics, but Valorant brings a special charm through the magic and powers it introduces into its gameplay. According to Bloomberg statistics, at the time of writing, Valorant is played by over 28 million users worldwide. Most of those players, as much as 80 percent, are the Gen Z population (the population born in the period from 1997 to 2012). Each map in the game is inspired by the world's scenery, which requires customization, skillful strategy and creativity.

Until now, the game was only available on the Windows platform, so we can consider this a big step for the Valorant community. You can sign up for the free beta and be the first to experience what Valorant will look like. Open and free betas are opportunities given by the company to get feedback from their community and adjust the game accordingly.

Initial reactions from the community

The decision to make Valorant available and adapted on consoles has come as a surprise to the gaming community, as competitive and tactical games like Valorant require a high degree of precision and speed - traditionally associated with a mouse and keyboard. The games that are currently available on consoles are adapted in such a way that players, who have a joystick in their hands and a reduced ability to move quickly, can enjoy the gameplay. Tactical team games, like Counter Strike Global Offensive or Counter Strike 2 and of course Valorant, require precision and speed.

Every second counts and aiming accuracy plays a key role, so it's very challenging to adapt this kind of gameplay dynamics to a single joystick (controller).

Aim assist

Quite a good number of shooting games for consoles have one option, which is aim assist. The game helps the player to "lock" his aim on the enemy and hit the moving target more easily. In the world of competitive games, which includes Valorant and the CS series, assistance during gameplay in the form of aim assist is strictly prohibited and is considered cheating. The reason for this is that real skill is reflected in the fact that the player can kill the opponent independently, without additional tools.

According to Riot Games, the game will be adapted for new platforms. We are not yet sure what these changes bring, but what is certain is that the graphics will be adapted to the specifications of consoles, which are generally weaker than a gaming PC.

Divided opinions (cross-play)

The gaming community has voiced their biggest concern about this news, which is cross play. Cross play is the possibility for players from different platforms to play together. For example we can take Apex Legends where players can play in the same match regardless of their device. As certain members of the Valorant gaming community point out, it is unacceptable to have a player with a keyboard and mouse and a player with a joystick on the same team in the same match. Their argument is that supposedly console players will constantly drag the entire team down due to the lack of the previously mentioned features.

However, in a recent public statement from Riot Games, they explicitly hinted that there will be no cross-play in order to maintain competitive integrity.

Arnar Gylfason, director of production for Valorant, points out that they are aware that they have to provide console players with an authentic, competitive and dynamic experience that PC players have.

We can only guess what Valorant will look like on a Play Station or Xbox until the first version comes out. What we do know is that this decision is very important for Riot Games and Valorant. One of the members of the developer (development team) at the public discussion emphasized the importance of this decision and added that this movement was on the agenda from the very beginning. Console game players look forward to being able to play on their consoles.

For now, you can download Valorant for free from their official website (https://playvalorant.com/en-us/).