Valorant facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Valorant |
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| Developer(s) | Riot Games |
| Publisher(s) | Riot Games |
| Director(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Designer(s) |
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| Programmer(s) |
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| Artist(s) | Moby Francke |
| Composer(s) | Jesse Harlin |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
| Platform(s) | Windows PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X/S |
| Release date(s) | June 2, 2020 |
| Genre(s) |
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| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Valorant is a fun, free-to-play game where you play as a hero in a first-person view. It's a tactical shooter and a hero shooter, made by Riot Games for Windows computers.
The game was first hinted at in October 2019 as Project A. A special early access (called a closed beta) started on April 7, 2020. The full game was then released to everyone on June 2, 2020. The idea for Valorant actually began way back in 2014. It takes some ideas from the Counter-Strike games, like how you buy weapons and how guns shoot.
Contents
Playing Valorant: How It Works
Valorant is a team-based game where you shoot from a first-person view. It's a tactical shooter and a hero shooter set in the near future. You pick one of many "Agents" to play as. These Agents come from different countries and cultures around the world.
In the main game, two teams of five players each face off. One team attacks, and the other defends. Each Agent has special powers called "abilities." Some abilities need to be charged up, and there's also a powerful "ultimate ability." You charge your ultimate by getting kills, dying, or completing goals.
Every player starts a round with a basic pistol and some special ability charges. You can buy more weapons and abilities using in-game money. You earn money by winning rounds, getting kills, and completing objectives. The game has many types of guns, like pistols, submachine guns, shotguns, machine guns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles. Each gun shoots in a unique way that you need to learn to aim well.
There are currently 24 Agents to choose from. When you first start, you get 5 Agents unlocked for free. You can unlock the others by earning "Kingdom Credits" in the game. You get Kingdom Credits by playing games and finishing daily or weekly tasks. You can use them to unlock new Agents or cool cosmetic items for your guns.
Unrated Matches
In the standard game mode, called Unrated, the first team to win 13 rounds wins the match. The attacking team has a bomb-like device called the Spike. They need to plant the Spike at one of the special locations on the map. If they protect the Spike for 45 seconds after planting it, it explodes, and the attacking team gets a point.
If the defending team stops the Spike from exploding, or if the 100-second round timer runs out before the Spike is planted, the defending team gets a point. If one team eliminates all players on the other team, they also get a point. If both teams win 12 rounds, there's a sudden death round. The team that wins that round wins the whole match.
Teams can also choose to surrender if they want to stop playing. If enough players agree, the game ends, and the winning team gets credit for all remaining rounds.
Spike Rush Matches
Spike Rush is a faster game mode where the first team to win 4 rounds wins the match. Players start with almost all their abilities ready. Their ultimate abilities also charge up much faster.
In this mode, every player on the attacking team carries a Spike, but only one can be planted per round. The guns you get are random each round, and everyone starts with the same gun. There are also special power-up orbs around the map that give you boosts.
Swiftplay Matches
Swiftplay is a quicker version of the Unrated game mode. It's still 5 players versus 5 players, with attackers planting the Spike and defenders stopping them. The main difference is that the first team to win 5 rounds wins the match.
Teams switch sides after round 4. The money system is the same as Unrated. Swiftplay games are much faster, usually lasting about 15 minutes, compared to 40 minutes for Unrated.
Competitive Matches
Competitive matches are like Unrated games but with a ranking system. After playing 5 games, you get a rank based on how well you play. You need to reach level 20 in the game before you can play Competitive.
If a Competitive match reaches a 12-12 tie, teams play "overtime." They keep playing rounds, switching between attack and defense, until one team wins by two rounds. Players can also vote to end the game in a draw if they don't want to keep playing overtime.
The ranks go from Iron to Radiant. All ranks except Radiant have three tiers. Radiant is for the very best 500 players in a region. The Immortal and Radiant ranks also show a number, so players can see exactly how they compare to others at their high level.
Premier Matches
Premier is a special 5v5 game mode for players who want to become professional Valorant players. It was first tested in Brazil and is now available worldwide. Players create a team of five and compete against other teams in different divisions.
Each Premier season lasts a few weeks. The best teams get to play in a Division Championship. Winning teams can even move up to their region's Challengers league, which is a step towards becoming a pro player in the VCT (Valorant Champions Tour). In Premier, teams get to choose which maps to play, unlike other modes where the map is picked for you.
Deathmatch Mode
The Deathmatch mode was added on August 5, 2020. In this mode, 14 players fight in a free-for-all match for 9 minutes. The first player to get 40 kills, or the player with the most kills when time runs out, wins.
Players start as a random Agent with full shields. All Agent abilities are turned off, so it's all about pure gun skill. When you get a kill, green health packs appear. Picking them up restores your health, armor, and gives you more bullets.
Team Deathmatch Mode
Team Deathmatch was released on June 27, 2023. This mode mixes ideas from standard games and regular Deathmatch. It's a free-for-all where two teams of five players fight. The match lasts 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The first team to reach 100 kills wins. If time runs out, the team with the most kills wins.
The match is split into four stages. The weapons you can choose get more powerful as the game goes on. When you get eliminated, you respawn in a special room where you can change your weapons. Unlike regular Deathmatch, you pick your Agent before the game, and Agent abilities are allowed. You can charge your ultimate ability by finding special orbs or getting kills. This mode uses its own special maps, not the usual ones.
Escalation Mode
The Escalation game mode was added on February 17, 2021. It's like a "gungame" mode found in other games, but it's team-based with 5 players on each team. The game picks 12 random weapons for you to use.
Your team needs to get a certain number of kills with each weapon to move to the next one. The weapons usually get harder to use as you go along. A team wins if they go through all 12 weapon levels, or if they are on a higher level than the other team after 10 minutes. Like Deathmatch, you play as a random Agent, and most abilities are off. However, some abilities that act like weapons, such as Sova's shock darts or Raze's rocket launcher, can be used. Getting a kill drops health packs that restore your health, armor, and ammo. Players also respawn automatically in random spots.
Replication Mode
The Replication game mode started on May 11, 2021. When you pick your Agent, players vote on which Agent they want to play. The game then randomly picks one of the voted Agents, and everyone on your team plays as that same Agent. This happens even if you haven't unlocked that Agent yet.
It's a "best of nine" match, meaning the first team to win 5 rounds wins. Teams switch sides after the fourth round. Players start with a set amount of credits to buy guns and shields. Abilities are already bought for you. Your weapons and shields reset each round.
Snowball Fight Mode
Snowball Fight is a special game mode that only appears during the Christmas season. It was first released on December 15, 2020. It's a Team Deathmatch where the first team to get 50 kills wins.
Agent abilities are not allowed, and you play as a random Agent. The only weapon you have is a snowball launcher. It's an instant kill, but it's slow and shoots snowballs in an arc. You have unlimited ammo. During the game, a "portal" appears, dropping gifts that contain random power-ups.
Valorant Agents and Their Roles
There are many different Agents you can play in Valorant. Agents are grouped into four main roles: Duelists, Sentinels, Initiators, and Controllers. Each role suggests how that Agent is usually played in a match.
Duelists: The Attackers
Duelists are great at attacking and being the first to enter a bomb site. Riot calls them "self-sufficient fraggers," meaning they are good at getting kills on their own. Duelists help create space for their team when entering a site. They give their teammates information and make it easier to push forward.
Their abilities often include flashes that blind enemies and movement skills that let them move quickly. These abilities help Duelists surprise enemies and get important kills. When attacking, Duelists are usually expected to lead the charge. They go in first to get the initial kills because their abilities give them an advantage in gunfights. When defending, Duelists hold important choke points where enemies try to enter. Their mobility lets them get a kill and quickly move to a new spot, giving their team an advantage.
Sentinels: The Defenders
Sentinels are the defensive experts. They are good at holding down sites and protecting their teammates from enemies. Their abilities often involve placing static "objects" that block enemies. These objects can give your team information or even damage enemies.
When attacking, Sentinels can use their abilities to block off parts of the map. They can also set up objects to make sure enemies can't sneak up from behind without being noticed. When defending, Sentinels use their abilities to slow down enemies trying to enter a site. This gives their teammates valuable time to come and help defend.
Initiators: The Planners
Initiators help plan and start offensive pushes. They are good at breaking through enemy defenses. Initiators' abilities can include flashes, but also skills that show where enemies are hiding. This information helps attackers know where enemies are, making it easier to take over a site.
When defending, Initiators can use their abilities to find out where the attackers are going. They also help their teammates retake a site that has been lost to the enemy.
Controllers: The Strategists
Controllers are experts at "slicing up dangerous territory" to help their team succeed. They use their abilities to create cover or clear out areas with crowd control (abilities that slow or stop enemies). To help their team move into enemy areas, their abilities often include smoke, as well as molotovs (fire bombs), stuns, or flashes.
With their smokes, Controllers can block sightlines on the map. This makes it safer for their team to move without being seen. When attacking, Controllers can smoke off certain enemy viewpoints and use their crowd control abilities on common defensive spots. This forces enemies out into the open. When defending, Controllers can use smoke or crowd control at entryways to delay or stop the enemy team from moving forward.
How Valorant Was Made
Valorant was created and released by Riot Games, the same company that made League of Legends. Work on Valorant began in 2014 in their research and development department. Joe Ziegler, one of the game directors, came up with the first idea for Valorant while working with other Riot developers. David Nottingham is the creative director for the game.
Trevor Romleski, who used to design for League of Legends, and Salvatore Garozzo, a former professional player and map designer for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, are the game designers. Moby Francke, who worked at Valve and designed art and characters for Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2, is the art director.
Riot made Valorant with two main goals. First, they wanted to make tactical shooter games and esports easier for new players to get into. Second, they wanted to create a game that would attract a big competitive scene. They also wanted to fix problems that professional players had with other games in this style. Games with large, active communities, especially free-to-play games like Fortnite or Riot's own League of Legends, often focus on making the game run smoothly on many different computers. This makes them available to more players.
Joe Ziegler and Anna Donlon, a producer, said that Valorant was made for both new players and professional players. They said making the game easy to access was a big goal.
Riot decided to build Valorant using Unreal Engine 4. The development team said this allowed them to focus on making the game fun and run well, instead of spending time building basic game systems. To make sure many people could play Valorant, the team set very low computer requirements for the game. To make the game run at 30 frames per second on these lower-end computers, the engineering team had to change the engine quite a bit.
Valorant on Mobile
On June 2, 2021, Riot Games announced they were planning to make a mobile version of Valorant. This would be the first step in expanding the game's story and world.
Valorant on Consoles
On June 7, 2024, Riot announced that Valorant would also come to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S. A special early test (limited beta) for consoles started on June 14. The console versions won't let you play with PC players because the gameplay is made especially for consoles. However, your in-game items and progress will be shared between your PC and console accounts.
Game Release
Valorant was first teased as Project A in October 2019. It was officially announced on March 1, 2020, with a gameplay video on YouTube called "The Round." A closed beta, where only some players could try the game, started on April 7, 2020. To get a chance to play the beta, players had to sign up for accounts with Riot Games and Twitch and watch special game streams.
This beta ended on May 28, 2020. The full game was then released to everyone on June 2, 2020.
For the console version of Valorant, the limited beta began on June 14, 2024. It started in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan, with other regions joining later. Unlike the PC beta, players only need to sign up for a Riot Games account to try and get access.
Valorant Esports: Pro Gaming
Valorant has a very active esports scene, which means people play it professionally in competitions. The highest level of Valorant esports is run by Riot Games itself.
In 2020, Riot Games started a tournament called "First Strike." This event was designed to help build a strong foundation for the game's esports scene.
Valorant Champions Tour (VCT)
In November 2020, Riot Games announced the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT). This is a year-long series of tournaments with three main levels:
- Champions: This is the world championship, where the best teams from around the globe compete.
- Masters: These are big international competitions held in the middle of the season.
- Challengers: These are regional competitions that act as qualifiers for the Masters events.
Teams earn points based on how well they do in Challengers and Masters. The teams with the most points in their region qualify directly for Champions. Teams that are in the middle of the standings get one more chance to qualify for Champions by winning special "Last Chance Qualifiers."
Partnered Teams Era (2023-Present)
In 2023, Riot Games introduced a new system for the Valorant Champions Tour. They partnered with 30 special teams. These teams played their first big tournament at VCT LOCK//IN in Brazil, which started the VCT 2023 season. These partnered teams compete in three regional leagues to qualify for Masters and Champions.
Partner System:
- Champions: The world championship.
- Masters: International competitions held mid-season.
- International Leagues: Three leagues divided by region (Americas, EMEA, Pacific). These are qualifiers for Masters and Champions.
Non-Partner System:
- Ascension: Three competitions divided by region (Americas, EMEA, Pacific). These events allow teams to earn a spot in the International Leagues.
- Challengers: Regional competitions that are qualifiers for Ascension.
See also
In Spanish: Valorant para niños
