Riot Games has now released “Valorant” to everyone: after a lengthy beta phase, the free2play shooter is now publicly playable. However, the competitive mode remains disabled for now: Riot wants to make sure that everything runs smoothly before the leaderboard is launched.

For the launch of “Valorant”, Riot is also adding a new game mode called “Spike Rush” to its Free2Play shooter, as well as the new game map “Ascent”. Also new is the heroine “Reyna.” In addition, Riot is releasing a patch with balance changes and comfort improvements.

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Before the launch, “Valorant” was available for several weeks as a beta, in which many, but not all interested parties could participate. Riot Games had distributed the keys for the beta on Twitch, among other places: Anyone who watched a stream of a Valorant streamer had a chance to win the coveted Valorant keys. This immediately led to a Twitch record.

“Finished” is “Valorant” even with the release still far from: As a Free2Play title, the shooter will probably be regularly supplied with new content for years to come – Riot’s “League of Legends” has been actively developed for over 10 years. In a blog entry, Riot Games informs about the current status and future plans around “Valorant”.

Valorant as an E-Sports candidate

As usual with Free2Play titles, Valorant is financed via microtransactions: You can play for free, but for cosmetic items like weapon skins you will have to pay money. “Valorant” is predicted to have a future as an e-sports heavyweight. This is mainly due to the credentials of developer Riot Games: The studio has built “League of Legends” into the most successful e-sports game in the world and won prizes like the Sports Emmy for its professional broadcasts.

“Valorant” is now only the second real game from the developer studio. That Riot Games also wants to build its shooter into an e-sports great is considered certain. Already, well-known e-sports pros are diligently playing “Valorant” to prepare for the launch of the competitive scene.

Riot cleverly positions “Valorant” between the two e-sports shooters that have been most popular so far: “Overwatch” and “Counter-Strike”. Blizzard’s Overwatch stands for colorful special abilities, Valve’s “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” for lightning-fast reflexes and pinpoint aiming. “Valorant” tries to find a compromise between the two concepts. Thus, precise shooting has a higher priority than in “Overwatch”, but “Valorant” doesn’t do without special abilities either.