Valorant

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Genre	Multiplayer
Gamming Style	First Person Shooter (FPS)
Platform	Microsoft Windows
Release Date	June 2, 2020
Developer	Riot Games
Publisher	Riot Games
Website	Valorant

Valorant is an online multiplayer game designed by Riot Games that is available on the Windows platform, and it is the company’s only first-person shooter (FPS). It was originally under a title called "Project A" in October 2019. It was announced on March 1, 2020, with a gameplay video on YouTube called "The Round". The closed beta of the game was launched on April 7, 2020 and if a player wanted a chance to obtain a beta access key, they were required to sign up for accounts with both Riot Games and the streaming platform Twitch and watch related streams. This beta ended on May 28, 2020, with the game being fully released on June 2, 2020. The main motivation for its development was to make tactical shooters more accessible to new players while resolving some of the core issues games of the same genre had before.

Gameplay

Example of Gameplay

Similar to other tactical shooters like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the Call of Duty franchise, Valorant presents a multiplayer shooter game with different maps and assortment of weapons to buy each round. In a standard game mode, there are ten players, five on each team, and each team gets a chance to be the attacking and defending team for an even amount of rounds. For each round, the attacking team’s main objective is to plant a spike, and if the spike is not defused in a given amount of time by the defending team, the attacking team wins that round. On the other hand, the defending team’s goal is to prevent the spike from blowing up if it is planted, and they win the round if they are successful. During the round, if all five players of a team are dead before the spike is planted, the other team wins the round. The first team to win 13 rounds wins the game.

The key difference that Valorant brings is the introduction of agents. Each agent has their own abilities to use during the game, and similar to guns, these are purchasable at the start of each round. This brings a new aspect to a traditional FPS video game in that abilities can harm, heal, and disrupt players and their movements, which create space for numerous strategies to be formed outside of pure gun fights. As of March 19 2021, Riot Games has introduced 15 agents. 12 of these characters were released at launch with 3 being released afterwards.

Agents

One aspect of the game is that there are many playable agents available within the game. Agents are broken down into their respective classes based upon their intended play styles. Duelists are the offensive line, specializing in attacking and entry fragging for the team. Duelists include Jett, Phoenix, Reyna, Raze and Yoru. The defensive line are the Sentinels, which specialize in locking down sites and protecting teammates from enemies. Sentinels include Sage, Cypher and Killjoy. Initiators plan out offensive pushes and focus on breaking through defensive enemy positions. Initiators include Skye, Sova and Breach. The last class are the Controllers, who specialize in setting their team up for success. They use their heavy utility to control sightlines on the map. Controllers include Viper, Brimstone, Omen and Astra.

Maps

As of March 2021, Valorant can be played on 5 different maps. The five maps are Icebox, Bind, Haven, Split, and Ascent. Maps contain different "call-outs" which are used to help players communicate with their teammates. These "call-outs" are names for locations on the maps to communicate where the enemy is. Before a round has started, there are barriers blocking each time. While the attackers are limited in movement, defenders can access the sites before the round start, allowing them to set-up defenses and get into position. While each map shares common traits, they also have a unique mechanic. While all other maps have two sites where the spike can be planted, Haven has three sites. Bind contains 2 teleporters to allot teams to rotate. Icebox contains zip-lines across parts of the map. Split has climable ropes allowing players to get to high ground quickly. Ascent contains close-able doors on each site to allow the defenders to funnel the enemy, or allow the attackers to help defend a captured site. Bind, Haven, and Split were available at launch, with Icebox and Ascent being released later.

Unrated

This is the non-ranked version of the standard game mode. Players can play this game mode if they are looking to test agents, guns, and strategies or play for fun where the outcome of the game does not affect their ranking. This mode does not incorporate the “win by two” rule of overtime if the score sets at 12-12. The team that wins the next immediate round wins the game.

Competitive

The Competitive mode is the ranked version of the standard game mode. This mode incorporates a ranking system which assigns a certain rank to each player after they have played 5 games in competitive mode. The ranking system consists of iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, Immortal, and Radiant, where Radiant is the highest ranking a player can achieve. Players can play this mode to play with and against other players who rank in a similar range. This mode tests players’ gunplay, character movement, and strategy, and those who consistently win games reach the top of the ranking ladder. In some cases, players who consistently play at a high level may receive interest from professional teams to play for their Esports team.

Other Modes

Valorant also includes three other game modes: Spike Rush, Deathmatch, and Escalation. These game modes are unlike the standard game modes, and they are mainly used to practice aiming and gun mechanics. For example, in the Deathmatch game mode, the map is designed to have a "free-for-all" feel. The objective is to be the first player out of fourteen to reach 30 kills. Since there is no spike to plant, abilities to use, or an incentive to hide, the mode is primarily used for improving a player's accuracy and gun aim while training the player's reflexes to sound cues. It can also be used as a warm-up to Competitive mode.

Escalation

The Escalation gamemode was introduced in February 2021 and is similar to the "gungame" concept found in Counter-Strike and Call of Duty: Black Ops, though it is team-based rather than free-for-all with 5 players on each team. The game will pick a random selection of 12 weapons to move through. As with other gungame versions, a team needs to get a certain number of kills to advance to the next weapon and the weapons get progressively worse as the team moves through them. There are two winning conditions, one team needs to get through those levels, or if one team is on a higher level than the opposing team within 10 minutes. The gamemode also has auto respawns on, respawning players in random locations around the map.

Valorant Esport

Valorant, like many other competitive shooters, has become active within esports. Riot Games have also hoped to make Valorant a popular e-sport. In December of 2020, Riot Games held a single elimination tournament called First Strike:North America with a $100,000 prize pool. In May 2021, the Valorant Champions Tour Masters will be head in Reykjavik, which will be the first in person Valorant Tournament. The VCT will include 10 teams from around the world.

Ethical Implications

Vanguard's notification if it detects a cheater

Riot Vanguard

Riot Vanguard is an anti-cheat software that was built in-house and aims to prevent cheating software to be run concurrently with the game. The implementation consists of a client and a kernel mode driver that is installed on players’ computers during the installation of the game. In order to play Valorant, Riot Vanguard must be installed and active during any gameplay to ensure the integrity of the games. However, early versions of Vanguard received reports of compatibility issues with other Windows applications.

If Vanguard detected any cheating software from a player’s computer, the game would stop abruptly and present a report of the cheating incident. This player would receive some form of ban depending on the seriousness and legitimacy of the act. In some cases, cheating software can go undetected. However, skilled players who have played FPS games long enough can easily tell whether or not players are using any form of wallhacking or aimbotting. These incidents can be reported during or after the game where developers can review a video of the game to approve the report.

Controversy

Computer privilege levels. Valorant operates on the inner most circle

Given Vanguard is installed on a player’s computer, its kernel mode driver starts up as soon as the computer boots up. If Vanguard does not start with the computer, it will not trust the computer, and therefore, the game cannot be played. The kernel is the main part of the operating system, which means that any software that is run at this level has a huge control over one’s computer. The main concern with Vanguard incorporating a kernel mode driver is that any vulnerabilities in Vanguard could result in damages far worse than if it was run at a higher level. However, other multiplayer games such as Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds have continued to run anti-cheat software on the kernel level, but they have not received as much attention and criticism.

Data Transparency Measures

After several patch releases, the Riot Games’ security developers loosened up the restrictions for Vanguard, and more programs that do not pose a threat to its security, such as Core Temp, have been unblocked for the time being.

Another common complaint was that Vanguard was always present on a user's computer. Riot Games addressed this concern by adding system tray icon allowing users to turn off Vanguard at any time. Users would be allowed to play the game after restarting their computer to re-enable Vanguard.

In October 2020, Riot Games released a privacy statement regarding more transparency about the information it collects in efforts to relieve any players or potential players of any uneasiness they felt about Riot services including Vanguard software. The statement included information collected from its services including account information, computer or device information, and information shared to third-party applications.