“If we feel like we can deliver this experience on those platforms, we absolutely will.”
VALORANT was offically lauched by Riot Games last week, much to the delight of FPS fans worldwide who have been eagerly anticipating the already highly-lauded tactical shooter.
If there’s one thing gamers can complain about, for certain, it’s that Valorant is just only available on PC — at least for now.
When they were asked about the possibility of releasing Valorant for the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, and other platforms, Riot Games shared some encouraging, but still, very limited words about their plans for their newly hit.
“We are definitely prototyping [Valorant for consoles] right now” said Anna Donlon, Valorant’s Executive Producer in an interview with GameSpot. “But there’s a way to play … and experience this game that we’re not entirely sure translates completely to console play.”
“If we feel like we can deliver this experience on those platforms, we absolutely will.”
Donlon made it clear that Riot’s priority is to establish Valorant’s positive reputation through a “strong level of competitive integrity.” They are, after all, off to a hot start. Following a successful closed beta run between April and May, Valorant continues to gain steam as the projected new frontrunner in the FPS esports genre.
Right now, the developers are focusing on making sure that no player gets any unfair advantage in the game. Playing across different platforms may compromise the level of competition. This problem occurs in every FPS game that has both consoles and PC platforms. Especially, with a high-level competitive game like Valorant. Also, with Valorant’s aiming and ability mechanics, players who rely on controllers may have trouble matching up against players using mouse-and-keyboard rigs.
This likely means that console gamers will have to wait, at least for a while until they can play Valorant on their favourite console.
“If we were to do it, it’ll definitely be delayed,” Donlon confirmed. But if it’s any consolation, she was careful with her words.
“It’s not a no, for sure.” Donlon clarified, mentioning that some designers on the team are “very excited” to prove the potential of Valorant on consoles. “But it definitely wasn’t the focus out of the gate. If we were to do it, it’ll definitely be delayed.”
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Riot Games hints at Valorant on consoles
Valorant would be very well-suited for consoles. Since Fortnite’s building mechanics needed frequent tinkering from Epic Games and Overwatch has subtle differences in hero balance between the PC and console versions of the game, Valorant doesn’t have anything that would be difficult to replicate on or translate to the PlayStation and Xbox.
From a technical perspective, there would also be very few hiccups for Riot Games in terms of getting the game to work on a console. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are both fairly powerful pieces of hardware and Valorant was specifically designed to be able to run on older PCs as well as newer and more powerful setups. Getting the game to run would be almost no trouble for those powerful consoles, and it is very likely that it is even possible to be ported over to the comparatively weaker like Nintendo Switch.
So will Valorant get on consoles? Riot spelled it out in a statement on its Discord server for the game.
“It is likely, but there may be information about it in the future announcements as we get closer to the game’s release,” Riot said.
Whether Valorant gets ported to consoles likely hinges on how well the game is received on PC. Fortnite being made available on every modern gaming platform imaginable was started by its explosive success on the PC. If Valorant enjoys even a fraction of that success, Riot would be leaving money on the table by not giving consoles any chance.
The big question is which platforms it would land on. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are both set to launch later this year, which could see Riot forego porting Valorant to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Regardless, we can only expect it to be ported on console if its PC version could make a big hit just like what Fortnite did.
Valorant on mobile is possible, but less likely than PlayStation, Xbox ports
Riot Games also has an appreciation for the size and potential of the mobile market these days. Despite long being exclusively focused on League of Legends, Riot has been ramping up its efforts outside the realms of PCs and has already launched ports of both Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra on mobile. It also has plans to to launch a mobile MOBA game that is League of Legends: Wild Rift, as well as CONV/RGENCE, a spin-off focused on Ekko.
Could Valorant end up on mobile devices?
It’s certainly possible. Improved specs on smartphones and tablets have seen numerous shooters game that create massive success on mobile platforms. The greatest examples of this so far have been battle royale titles like PUBG Mobile and Fortnite, but there are many more of both the multiplayer and single-player varieties.
Valorant mobile version is definitely something that could very likely to become a reality, and it’s almost certainly on Riot’s radar. That said, don’t expect it to come out ahead of console ports unless Riot has quietly had it in the works for some time now.