Valorant

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Valorant
Valorant logo.svg
Studio Riot Games
Publisher Riot Games
Senior Developer Richie Daniels
composer Sam Brad
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 2nd June 2020
platform Microsoft Windows
genre Ego shooter
Game mode Multiplayer
control Mouse and keyboard
medium Download
language u. a. German and English
Age rating
USK approved from 16
PEGI recommended for ages 16+
PEGI content
rating
Game contains violence

Valorant is a free-to-play - Multiplayer - first-person shooter that of Riot Games was developed. It is the first game that Riot Games has developed in this genre. The game was first announced under the code name Project A in October 2019 . It was released for Microsoft Windows on June 2, 2020 . The release was originally planned for summer 2020. A closed beta version started on April 7, 2020. Participation in the closed beta was achieved by sending game keys for watching live streams of the game on the Twitch video platform (so-called "Twitch Drops"). The Twitch account had to be linked to the Riot Games account. On June 2, 2020, Valorant left the beta phase.

Gameplay

The game is a mixture of hero and tactical shooters . Two teams of five play against each other. The players take on the role of "agents" with different skills. In between rounds, they use in-game currency to buy supplies and weapons.

Game modes

In the main game mode, the attacking team has a bomb, the so-called spike, which it has to place on a site. If the attacking team successfully protects the bomb and it explodes, they get a point. If the defending team successfully defused the bomb or the 100-second lap time expires, the defending team receives one point. Eliminating all opposing team members also brings you a round win. The first team to win 13 rounds wins the game. More game modes will be added later in the game.

Agents

There are currently twelve known agents in Valorant. Each of these agents has special skills that are either bought before the rounds or earned in-game during the elimination. The agents include:

  • Phoenix, the fire devil from Great Britain. Duelist;
  • Jett, the knife fighter from South Korea. Duelist;
  • Viper, the poisoner from the USA. Controller;
  • Sova, the tracker from Russia. Initiator;
  • Cypher, the hacker from Morocco. Sentinel;
  • Brimstone, the gunner from the USA. Controller;
  • Say, the healer from China. Sentinel;
  • the mysterious teleporter Omen. Controller;
  • the demolition master Breach from Sweden. Initiator;
  • Raze, the demolition expert from Brazil. Duelist;
  • Reyna from Mexico. Duelist;
  • Killjoy from Germany. Guardian

Skins

In the game shop, so-called skins can be purchased for the various weapons, which change the appearance of the weapons. These do not offer the players any advantages and are only used for aesthetics. These skins are purchased using the currency specially created for Valorant, which can be purchased with real money. However, there is also the possibility of getting skins by completing orders or the like.

Development and publication

The game was first announced in October 2019 for the ten-year anniversary of League of Legends under the code name Project A with a few more games. Since then, Riot Games has not only concentrated on its successful MOBA League of Legends and the PC platform, but also develops games in other genres and for other platforms. Development of the game started in 2014. The game engine used is the Unreal Engine .

A closed beta version started on April 7, 2020, in which the game access is only distributed via selected Twitch streamers. A week later, distribution via Twitch was activated for every owner of the game. The developer Riot Games published the official release date of Valorant on May 21, 2020 via the game's Twitter account. In a short clip, Executive Producer Anna Donlon and Game Director Joe Ziegler announced June 2, 2020 as the official release date. When the game was released on June 2nd, a Battle Pass was also introduced. Valorant is initially only supported for the Microsoft Windows operating system . The developers do not rule out porting for consoles, but are initially concentrating on the PC platform.

reception

Reviews of the game

While the game has been received largely positively by the Twitch community, an opinion poll by GameStar revealed that 80% of readers are not interested in the beta. However, a survey by MeinMMO showed that every second reader is interested in the game. One of the game's greatest strengths is the low system requirements, due to the cel-shading graphics, as well as the free-to-play and games-as-a-service model, as this enables a large and dynamic target group to be reached . The map and graphic design is kept simple, which not all players like, but is a conscious design decision of the game. The GameStar also criticizes the lack of a single player - or co-op mode , which would give players the opportunity to get to know the heroes more emotionally and identify with them instead of making them seem so generic. But she also praises the gunplay and the tactical elements and the importance of team play.

Distribution of game access via "Twitch-Drops"

The distribution of the beta game keys via "Twitch Drops" was criticized. For example, keys that are actually free on eBay are sold at high prices or bots are used. Riot Games then announced that it would ban buyers and sellers of reseller keys from the game. The game achieved several attendance records on the platform and recorded over 1.7 million simultaneous viewers at peak times. In the first week since the start of the closed beta, more than 150 million viewer minutes were recorded on Twitch. One week after the start of the beta, Riot Games not only enabled selected Twitch streamers to distribute drops, but also enabled the function for every owner of the game.

Parallels and influences to other games

Valorant was compared to games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) and hero shooters like Overwatch , Paladins and Apex Legends . Some prominent streamers referred to Valorant as CS: GO in simple and cartoon graphics. Another mode that should appear in the future is said to be similar to the Gunfight mode from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare .

privacy

The game's own anti-cheat tool , called "Vanguard", has been criticized for data protection and data security because it runs in the background of the operating system as a kernel driver, even when the game is not being played. The tool starts every time the system is started and runs constantly in the background. Players reported that normal programs are often falsely blocked.

Age rating and protection of minors

The USK released the game from the age of 16. Despite the harmless cartoon look, there is still enough fictional violence such as blood effects in the game, which is why the game has not received the "USK 12" approval.

Position in e-sports

On April 15, 2020, the first of which was e-sports tournament called 100 Thieves Invitational broadcast on Twitch. Well-known streamers competed against each other there. Riot Games does not want to organize esports tournaments itself for the time being, but supports tournaments from other organizers. The game mechanics are basically well suited for competitive tournaments, but it would have to prevail against long-established e-sports titles that have a similar game principle.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Valorant" flying high: Riot Games goes with "Project A" whole hog. Futurezone .de, April 11, 2020, accessed on April 17, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c Dennis Zirkler: Valorant's greatest opportunity is the weak graphics. GameStar .de, March 3, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Shooter "Valorant" by LoL developer Riot is coming this summer. Zeit.de , March 2, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Manuel Bauer: Valorant: Riot Shooter starts in the closed beta. Action game for PC. computerbild.de , April 1, 2020, accessed on April 17, 2020 .
  5. ↑ André Linken: Valorant: Date for the closed beta of the riot shooter. pcgames.de , March 31, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b Valorant: This is how you get Twitch drops and beta access. In: Mein-MMO.de. April 9, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 (German).
  7. ↑ a b Valorant is out: All information about release, download and patch 1.0. June 2, 2020, accessed June 2, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b Andre Borbe: "Valorant": First information about the new card "Ascend" appeared. Frankfurter Rundschau , April 16, 2020, accessed on April 17, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Valorant Agents | ValorantTracker.org. Retrieved May 5, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Christian Just: Valorant: An overview of all the shooter's agents and their skills. GameStar.de, April 8, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Patrik Chen: Valorant: New agent revealed. esports.com, May 31, 2020, accessed June 1, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Marylin Marx: Valorant gets a new agent from Germany: That's what the developers say about Killjoy. In: gamestar.de. July 30, 2020, accessed August 1, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Max Doll: Valorant: In-game purchases beautify and save time. ComputerBase.de , May 2, 2020, accessed on May 22, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Max Doll: Riot Games: LoL developer builds shooters, card games and fighting games. ComputerBase.de, October 16, 2019, accessed April 17, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Marcel Kleffmann: Valorant: Tactical hero shooter for PC in development. 4players.de, October 16, 2019, accessed April 17, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Austen Goslin: Valorant: How Riot finally made something new. Polygon.com , March 2, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Andy Williams: Valorant: Everything we know about Riot's FPS (Project A). dexerto.com, March 1, 2020, accessed April 18, 2020 .
  18. ↑ a b "Valorant" beta keys are now available in all Twitch streams for the game. tz .de, April 17, 2020, accessed on April 17, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Hauke ​​van Göns: VALORANT: Riot Games announces release date! esports.com, May 21, 2020, accessed May 22, 2020 .
  20. ↑ André Linken: Valorant: Console release is not categorically excluded for the developers. pcgames.de, April 8, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Marylin Marx: Valorant between hype & rejection: where do the differences come from? GameStar.de, April 8, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Christian Just: Valorant looks dreary? Why the lack of detail is intentional. GameStar.de, March 6, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Heiko Klinge: Why the Valorant beta is missing something crucial. GameStar.de, April 7, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Valorant: Beta keys are sold at high prices on Ebay - there is a risk of blocking. pcgameshardware .de, April 10, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Valentin Aschenbrenner: Valorant Keys on Ebay : Crazy Prices, Riot reacts radically. GameStar.de, April 9, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  26. ↑ "Valorant": Riot tricked a record number of viewers on Twitch and annoyed tons of players. DerStandard.de , April 14, 2020, accessed on April 17, 2020 .
  27. ↑ a b Tactical shooter Valorant: The next big esports hit? Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 16, 2020, accessed on April 17, 2020 .
  28. ↑ Daniel Herbig: "Valorant": Riot tricks himself to the Twitch record. heise online , April 9, 2020, accessed on April 16, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Robin Ahlert: Valorant continues to break viewer records on Twitch. Sport1.de , April 15, 2020, accessed on April 16, 2020 .
  30. ↑ Markus Richter: Valorant - So much CS: GO and Overwatch is in Riot's new title. redbull.com, April 9, 2020, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  31. ↑ Leya Jankowski, Jürgen Horn: Valorant Beta: Everything about registration, release and Twitch drops. Mein-MMO.de, April 8, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  32. ↑ Michael Herold: Valorant is "CS: GO in simple" - streamers criticize Riot's shooter. GameStar.de, April 7, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  33. ↑ Christian Just: Valorant looks at popular mode from CoD: Modern Warfare. GameStar.de, March 8, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  34. ↑ Stephanie Schlottag: Valorants Anti-Cheat runs on your PC, even if you are not playing. GameStar.de, April 13, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  35. ↑ André Linken: Valorant: New anti-cheat system blocks legal apps and causes frustration among players. pcgames.de, April 29, 2020, accessed on May 22, 2020 .
  36. ↑ Christian Just: Valorant: Age Rating - Despite the comic look, not child's play. GameStar.de, April 9, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 .
  37. ↑ Jürgen Horn: 1st major tournament on Valorant on Twitch - The highlights of 100t. Mein-MMO.de, April 15, 2020, accessed on April 17, 2020 .
  38. ↑ Kai Gundacker: VALORANT: Riot expresses himself for the first time on esport plans - Valorant. esports.com, April 16, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 .