A new mobile game announced by NetEase titled Project M has fans wondering if it’s a direct rip-off of Riot Games’ Valorant, as nearly all the visuals and sound effects are identical.
In 2020, Riot Games took a huge step as a company in launching their first huge title not named League of Legends. Valorant, the 5 vs 5 competitive tactical shooter, has been incredibly successful for Riot since it was first released back in June of 2020.
Riot entered the world of tactical shooters with Valorant by giving it a unique art style with clean lines and a mix between cell-shading and realism. This style helped it stand out amongst the other games of the genre, namely Counter-Strike and Overwatch.
Now, it seems like other companies are attempting to cash in on the popularity of Valorant.
What is Project M
In a new trailer for a game titled Project M, fans noticed the incredible similarities between the mobile title and Valorant.
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Project M’s art style looks nearly identical to Valorant’s, with environments, characters and weapons that look like they could’ve been ripped completely from Riot’s FPS. Even the font used Project M seems to be the same.
One commenter named Karlsson Chee said about the trailer: “They didn’t even try to change it. They just straight up rip off Valorant. Same ability, same gun concept, same kill vfx”. Another commenter named Daveigh Caigoy posted on the game’s official trailer saying: “Can’t wait for another lawsuit from Riot”.
The hit marker in Project M does look to be the same as the one in Valorant, as seen below. The skull that appears when notching a kill also seems to be the same
Right now there is nothing signaling action from Riot over the similarities here. Although, there are more of them than meets the eye. Project M as a title could be playing on Valorant’s name in development, which was “Project A”. The game is developed by NetEase, which is a direct competitor to the company that owns Riot Games, Tencent.
The similarities between Project M and Valorant are undeniable, and we will see if Riot Games has anything to say about it in the future.