Valorant Mobile revealed by Riot
Video game developer and publisher Riot Games has announced that its popular free-to-play first-person shooter Valorant is coming to mobile platforms.
“With enthusiasm for Valorant only continuing to grow, Riot now is preparing to expand the franchise – starting with Valorant Mobile – in order to bring Valorant to more players around the world,” Riot said during the game’s one-year anniversary on June 2.
There are no plans for cross-play between the PC and mobile version of Valorant as of now, according to executive Producer Anna Donlon.
Moreover, Valorant Mobile is planned to be more than just a port of the original PC version, with Riot hoping to provide a unique-to-mobile experience that considers how mobile player needs are different. The developer prioritized a mobile over a console version for Valorant due to the comparative ease of porting.
Riot, however, did not release further details regarding the game’s launch date, hardware compatibility, and significant differences (if any) from the game originally made for Microsoft Windows.
Since its launch in June 2020, Valorant recorded over half a billion matches played by an average of more than 14 million PC players worldwide logging on monthly.
“To see our growing player community recognize and appreciate what we’re trying to do with Valorant is beyond what we could’ve expected and we’re thrilled to soon offer the same competitive Valorant experience to even more global players,” Donlon said.
Aside from the Valorant Mobile announcement, Riot is honoring the game’s year-one milestone by holding a month-long celebration full of in-game rewards and initiatives for players and fans. Throughout June 2021, the Valorant community will receive commemorative digital swag, including a redeemable player card and a free event pass. (Read: Riot shows of Valorant’s latest agent Astra in new trailer)
“One of our top goals this first year was to earn the trust and respect of the global FPS community, and to prove to them that Valorant will always uphold the fundamentals of a truly worthwhile competitive tac-shooter,” Donlon said.
Valorant is a competitive character-based tactical shooter. It pits two teams of five players against each other to win a round-based, attackers vs defenders, best-of-24 rounds gunfight. Playable characters known as agents have signature abilities and can choose from different variations of weapons to suit the gamer’s specific playstyle.
Riot earlier this year launched free-to-play mobile game League of Legends: Wild Rift on Android and iOS. Similarly, is a modified version of the multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends for Microsoft Windows and macOS. Meanwhile, it’s also hard at work at an unnamed, League of Legends-based fighting game, codenamed “Project L.”
Valorant likewise follows the path of shooter gaming franchises that have expanded to mobile with much success. PUBG mobile, released in March 2018, has recorded over a billion downloads as of March 2021, while Call of Duty: Mobile, released in October 2019, surpassed 500 million downloads as of May 2021.
A mobile version of free-to-play hero battle royale game Apex Legends is also being developed and scheduled to be fully released by 2022.
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