Riot Games, the company best known for MOBA League of Legends, is bringing its free-to-play 5v5 hero shooter Valorant to consoles after four years of PC exclusivity. The game melds elements of hero shooters like Overwatch and tactical shooters like Counter-Strike, and it has a robust esports league, but console players have never gotten a chance to enjoy it—until now. Riot announced the news during the 2024 Summer Game Fest showcase. A beta for the console versions will begin on June 14 and you can sign up for a chance to receive access right now.
As announced on stage by Executive Producer Andy Ho and Production Director Arnar Gylfason, Valorant will receive versions for Xbox Series consoles and PlayStation 5. It looks like previous-gen console and Nintendo Switch owners will be left out. The announcement does mark a major milestone for Riot, with Valorant being the first of its major releases to get a console version. “We were adamant that Valorant’s core, competitive gameplay must feel natural on a controller, and —if we couldn’t deliver on that gameplay promise—we had to be prepared to walk away from it.” said Gylfason,” We hope we nailed it, but ultimately, our players will have the final say.”
The console version of Valorant will feature “custom-built Valorant gameplay” meant to preserve the core experience and feel of the PC version. What that means exactly isn’t clear, though transferring a competitive shooter to consoles is always a bit tricky as controllers are generally believed to be an inferior input method. The console and PC versions of Valorant will not have crossplay, probably because of the undefined gameplay tweaks the console version will receive (it’s probably some version of aim-assist). There will, however, be cross-progression between the two versions so players will have access to all of their inventory and cosmetics. Both versions will also receive all updates and patches simultaneously.
Riot recently announced that it will be adding more comprehensive features for combatting rampant harassment in Valorant. That includes hardware bans for the worst offenders. The change came after several viral clips showed just how vile the game’s voice chat can be for people of color, women, and LGBTQIA+ players. Hopefully, these measures extend to the console version of the game as well.
.
