The future is now.
On Monday morning at the strike of midnight PT, Riot Games unveiled Valorant (formerly known as "Project A"), its stylish five-on-five character-based tactical shooter. Along with a trailer showcasing what a round of Valorant will entail and how some of the characters work in the game, Riot also announced a release date of summer 2020 for its next big title.
We got together some of our experts in Tyler Erzberger, Emily Rand and Arda Ocal to break down their initial reactions to the Valorant announcements and what they hope to see from the sister title of League of Legends, currently the most-watched esport around the world.
What are your first impressions of Riot's five-on-five tactical shooter?
Erzberger: Wow. I knew that an announcement of some sort was coming in the next few days with the Valorant Twitch and Twitter pages being verified, but I was still stunned when I saw that the website was live and there was a trailer with a release date. This summer?! We already have the League of Legends season in full swing, and now we're going to have its sister game, Valorant, release right in the thick of the summer (and winter) splits around the world.
My first thought was just how stylish the trailer was and how clean the packaging of the Valorant brand appears. You can definitely see the influence of the PROJECT skins in League of Legends and how that aesthetic seems to be a staple in Valorant. While the game footage was still in alpha and the graphics that we come to expect from Riot Games aren't there at the moment, I'm happy the game is a lot more Counter-Strike and Rainbow 6 Siege than Overwatch in terms of gameplay.
Rand: Regardless of gameplay, one thing I always knew about this game prior to release is that it was going to look really good. This trailer confirmed this -- smooth is probably the most apt adjective here -- and this isn't even the final release. Now I'm just curious to see how the game itself works. A combination of Overwatch and Counter-Strike is the instant social reaction, and that seems fitting based on what can be seen in this footage: various plant sites along with a disarming mission and a variety of abilities based on which character a player has chosen.
Ocal: This game looks CLEAN. Simple but nuanced. Feels like a "easy to learn, difficult to master" vibe, which always makes for a terrific game. The weapon buy system will warm many CS:GO fans' hearts. The trailer made me stoked for what this would look like as an esport. Also, from the gameplay trailer, it looked like there was no blood. If that sticks, I think that might be a great choice for mass appeal. I personally don't think this game needs blood by how it's presented and how the graphics look.
What esports scenes (if any) should be worried about Valorant's arrival?
Erzberger: While the obvious comparison is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with how similar the gameplay is, I think that both games will thrive and (hopefully) push each other to become the best games possible. Counter-Strike just had one of its best viewership weekends ever in Katowice, and no pretty wrapping from Riot Games is going to take away from the hardcore audience Valve has built up throughout the years.
I definitely think we will see pro players from other games, including CS, Overwatch and other FPS titles, try out Valorant to see if they can become the face of a game that is almost assured to be a smash hit, but don't expect any of the established FPS esports to crumble because of Valorant. If Valorant's release destroys an opposing esports scene, that scene didn't have legs to stand on in the first place.
Rand: People are probably sick of me continuously harping on this in terms of viewership and a strong initial return on investment, but establishing an early foothold in China is key. Riot's partnership with Tencent (and this is before Tencent was a majority owner) was absolutely crucial in making League of Legends the sport it is today in China. There's little reason to believe that Tencent will slack on pushing Valorant upon release, especially if it's simply attached to people's existing accounts.
From what I can see, there's still a lot of room in the market for an FPS game with mass appeal that, for myriad different reasons, Counter-Strike and Overwatch have been unable to fill. FPS games remain oddly regional.
As for what games should be worried, we're at the point in esports history now that everyone is going to try the new thing. It happened upon Overwatch's highly-anticipated release, and it has happened in smaller, less official capacities with people turning to battle royale games over the past few years like PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds, Apex Legends and, of course, Fortnite. I think some players of existing games will make the switch, others won't. The awkward thing now is that an "esport" is expected upon arrival, which is a tough ask for something that doesn't have organic growth behind it.
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One of the most successful parts of Counter-Strike and early League of Legends is that they were allowed to grow a player base -- and more importantly, a competitive player base -- before more official tournament circuits and later franchising were put in place. You'll have pro players in existing esports dropping their games to try out Valorant, but in order for Valorant to truly be successful going forward, it will have to cultivate its own demographic separate from the swaps during its initial hype.
Ocal: Riot has a successful track record in esports. League of Legends is one of the only games -- and competitive esports titles on the planet, for that matter -- that truly has mass global appeal: China, in South Korea, in North America, Europe, everywhere. Riot knows how to succeed globally. So, when they drop games like this, why wouldn't you bet that it will do well? That they thought of how to make this a hit in every market and a banger as an esport? Of course, new games are appealing: arena FPS game Diabotical got plenty of love this weekend in their beta launch, for example. But Valorant, on paper, has home-run potential. If the prize pools are there, and I'm a FPS pro, I'm seriously considering making the jump.
What's one thing you personally want Riot to deliver on with Valorant?
Erzberger: I want this game to really nail the creativity Riot is promising. We don't need Counter-Strike II: Electric Boogaloo because we already have an amazing Counter-Strike game in its current iteration. But if Riot can bring the same heart-pounding, back-and-forth action we see in CS:GO and throw in a chess-like element to the game with the addition of spells and other character specialties, then I think we could get something that is special.
I also want to see if Riot can actually achieve a true international esport like they have with League of Legends. While Counter-Strike is gigantic in the west, the most popular shooters in China and South Korea are Crossfire and Sudden Attack, respectively. If we could have a world where North America, South America, China, South Korea and Europe, along with other large regions, are all investing in Valorant like we have with League of Legends, then we're going to have one amazing esports scene.
Rand: Outside of the aforementioned appeal to a Chinese market, the thing I want to see the most from Valorant is simplicity. One of the reasons why Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has remained popular in the West for so long is that it's amazingly easy to watch. On a lesser popularity scale, Call of Duty is something that, again, is really easy to understand visually. From this small taste of the game, it does appear that different abilities will be used, which could be worrisome if it goes too far into Overwatch territory, where from the get-go I felt that the game was trying to do too much at once. All those extra elements, while fun for a player, can make the game more confusing for the viewer than a CS or CoD match.
Ocal: The next FPS game embraced by the world that's fun to play, fun to watch, innovates in both areas and like Tyler mentioned and has appeal in both East and West. Can that happen with Valorant? I'd bet more yes than no.
Take a wild guess: A year from now, where is Valorant's esports scene (or lack thereof)?
Ocal: I think a lot depends on economics. No pros are jumping if there isn't significant investment. I do think Riot has taken this into account, and we will be impressed by what we see. Will it be franchised? Will it be the teams we all know and love? Will it be city-based teams? I think a year from now, there will be some answers, bur Riot isn't going to rush this.
Rand: Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Riot Games has a tendency to let things breathe for a bit upon release. The company will drop something like Teamfight Tactics with no small amount of fanfare but then let it just kind of sit there as a content community builds around it. Sometimes, this ends up working out really well. Other times, it doesn't (how did we not have a ton of KDA merchandise upon release in 2018 after the League of Legends World Championship???).
I think Teamfight Tactics is a likely blueprint for Valorant. There's no way to put the genie back in the bottle regarding the fact that everyone expects some sort of esports infrastructure immediately. However, I think that something like a few tournaments at various events around the world, and possibly a small "world championship" like League of Legends circa 2011, is most likely for a few reasons. One is past releases. The other is a simple bandwidth issue. Riot is also currently dealing with multiple things on the League of Legends front, especially with the recent coronavirus outbreak.
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Erzberger: Riot would likely rather play the long game than try and capitalize on hype to make a quick buck. The developer knows Valorant has the potential to be one of the biggest esports in the world, especially if China likes it, and because of that, I think they're going to take things slow in the first year. I expect them to hold invitational tournaments in all of their major regions in 2020 and then hopefully announce a circuit in 2021 that is similar to their regional leagues in League of Legends.
For the esports organizations out there, I wouldn't be shocked if we see five Valorant teams announced by tomorrow. Teams are going to try and corner the market as soon as possible, and I'm excited to see what players become the face of Valorant. We saw it in Fortnite and Apex Legends, and I think by the end of 2020 there will be a king or queen that people are already calling the best in the world.
Which pro/streamer do you want to see pick up Valorant?
Ocal: Give me The Four Horsemen of Fortnite: Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, Ben "DrLupo" Lupo, Jack "CouRage" Dunlop, Tim "TimTheTatman" Betar. Herschel "Dr. Disrespect" Beahm would be interesting both from a "how does the gimmick take to this game" perspective but also how the maps were created and his thoughts on it as a former map designer for CoD. Let's get a bit wacky on this one, too: Why not Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok? Let's see how he does in another Riot game.
Rand: There's an easy group of former Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch pro players who have left the latter because Overwatch League wasn't for them or who felt slighted by the decreasing funding for the amateur and Tier 2 scenes. Many of these players moved to Apex Legends when it was the game du jour, but since Apex has yet to blow up to the point where there's a highly lucrative pro scene (despite being, in my humble opinion, absolutely the best battle royale game out there), I see a lot of them moving over to at least try Valorant.
Similarly, I see any and all CoD pros who haven't been able to find teams in the new franchised league, or are simply looking for something new, to try it out as well.
Erzberger: I want to see Kim "EscA" In-jae, the undisputed icon of FPS games in South Korea. He won a championship in PUBG with Gen.G Esports. He was the in-game leader for the team that made Overwatch popular in South Korea, Lunatic-Hai, where he also won a domestic title. Every FPS Esca has played, he has become a champion. Although he's 28 and is considered an old man nowadays in the world of esports, it would almost feel wrong if he doesn't throw his hat in the ring for Valorant.
If there was any one player to jump start South Korea's future dynasty in Valorant like they have for so many years in League of Legends, it would be EscA.