The competitive ‘first-person-shooter bomb defusal’ genre of esports has been wholeheartedly dominated by none other than the beloved CounterStrike franchise, leading all first-person-shooters in this regard. While other shooters, such as Rainbow Six Siege and a game mode within Call of Duty are on their heels if only distantly, no real competition has ever surfaced. Ironically enough, at the same time that Fortnite is introducing Dust_2 to its players, Riot Games has officially announced its new title of Valorant as part of their multi-title branching project as announced at the end of last year. After this announcement, we are wondering, Will Valorant esports scene feasible in the future?
While some are referring to it as a hot mix of Overwatch, League of Legends and CS:GO, many have realized the theme in common to all these titles – a thriving competitive scene. In this article, we’ll attempt to answer the circulating question – will Valorant ever grace a mainstage and is it enough to compete with the likes of CounterStrike?
Riot Games does have a reputation from forging titles inspired by others, translating the idea in their unique way which may be worth praising and criticizing at the same time as exemplified by Teamfight Tactics from last year, which capitalized on the buzz over tactical simulators in a big way. So, what exactly is Valorant?
Essentially, it’s a 5v5 first-person-shooter which is alike Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege in that it consists of multiple characters (Agents) with their abilities and personalities to contribute to the success of the team and like CS:GO in that it revolves around precision gun-shots narrowed down by crouching and tactical movement around the linear maps and bomb sites. Content creators got the opportunities to try it out, fiddling with the eight available agents so far, offering abilities such as fireballs, rebirth, smokes, and ultimates all around, just like in LoL.
The epic trailer certainly got the community going, showcasing an alpha-build. Formerly known as Project A revealed when Riot held its 10th anniversary, it’s gotten the heads spinning, though many questions arise over competitive. A few of which we’ll tackle together below.
Wouldn’t abilities reduce the skill-gap in competitive?
Indeed, it would – while abilities make titles such as Overwatch and R6S entertaining and thrilling to watch, it would through off the balance in a title which is skill-demanding such as CS:GO, and Riot knows this as they try to even out the playing field.
Ultimates, after building up enough score, will be available indefinitely to competitors once earned, to come into play in the later rounds which should make for some epic late-game finishes. Meanwhile, abilities will have to be bought together with the guns at spawn and won’t be available.
In Valorant, Riot offers abilities as an investment, just like weapons and armor, which can hence yield success or backfire. Choosing whether to invest and which ability to pick should add another layer of complexity.
It remains skill-based thanks to the essential mechanics of headshot multipliers, a supposedly balanced economy and weapon system including the likes of pistols, SMGs, ARs, LMGs, and Snipers in a familiar way while the maps also look to be linear and straight forward to allow for straight-up gunfights between players.
Does it have potential as an Esport?
In my opinion, it will certainly be tough for the esport to succeed not on the basis that it’s not going to be fun to play – it’s when you consider the competition and the target demographic that the doubts begin to settle in. Indeed, Riot Games with Valorant are trying to walk a fine line between two well-respected ideas within the esports community of hero-type gameplay and bomb defusal, as they offer a mix of strategy and anticipation.
Understanding Riot Games as a developer well-acquainted with the concept of competition, one can expect a balanced title which is just enough skill and strategy to allow for healthy competitive play. With that being said, the title certainly has potential as an esport.
Will it succeed as an Esport?
Valorant is aimed at players who enjoy both aspects just enough to attempt to combine them. For the title to succeed as an esport, it’ll either have to outshine Overwatch with its heroes and Rainbow Six with its agents or outcompete CS:GO with an even more strategic frame. Setting up competition against such giants is a tall order for a new title.
That then leads me to the target demographic of this title; planning to attract from CS:GO, Overwatch and LoL itself makes it a widespread field. The wider the spectrum, the more likely it’ll be that Riot fails to nail certain aspects and please everyone, resulting in a stratified community and a player base that can find similar elements in other titles.
The fact that the title goes against such strong opposition leads me to believe that it will take time. What Valorant does have over these titles is the fact that it’s brand new to players, who may potentially be tiring out from the older titles and that it’ll be available for free, making it accessible to absolutely everyone for a whirl.
Overall, it can succeed, but it will need time. I won’t be surprised if it finds little success, to begin with, but depending on Riot’s decision-making, it can potentially be taken to the next level alongside the likes of CS:GO and Overwatch.
Conclusion
Last year, many hearts sunk as Riot Games announced that Teamfight Tactics would not become a competitive title to instead remain a ‘casual’ option despite the potential and the community support behind it. It will be up to Riot Games to decide whether Valorant is worthy of the investment.
Remember; turning a title competitive is a long-term investment and also a risk. Since Riot Games is planning eight projects to make up the Riot Forge, I do believe that all eight will first be published and depending on where the players go, competitive scenes may then be built up. I heavily doubt that Riot Games will put all of their eggs in one basket in terms of esports.
Regardless, no official valorant release date has been provided for the beta, let alone the final release. We will stay tuned on playvalorant.com for future announcements. While everyone may be excited about a potential new esport, a lot of time will have to pass before any realistic expectations can be set – it needs to be unique!
