With the Valorant beta sailing smoothly on PC, Riot Games has provided a bit of an update as to when console and mobile gamers could get their hands on the free-to-play tactical FPS.
Launching on April 7, the Valorant beta was met with widespread hype as top streamers and content creators showcased the game for the world to see. However, some console gurus and mobile game aficionados felt a bit left out.
That could all be changing in the future, however, as Valorant Game Director Joe Ziegler explained to Express Online that Riot were open to releasing the game on other platforms at some point.
When asked about the possibility of the FPS making it to PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch or mobile devices, Ziegler made it clear that the idea was something Riot were “exploring.”
“While we are exploring other platforms like console and mobile, right now the team is working hard to deliver a top-notch experience on PC,” he said.
So, while we could see Valorant make its debut on consoles and handheld devices at some point, it doesn’t look like the game will be playable on anything but PC for the time being.
This does make sense as the game is still in beta and the PC version is a testing ground of sorts with two additional agents and one more map still to be released before the game’s official launch.
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Ziegler was also asked about challenges the development team faces creating a major title outside of League of Legends.
“Team PVP focused games traditionally have a tough time telling stories or even building worlds to tell meaningful stories in, and Valorant was no exception,” he stated.
“As we built Valorant, there were a lot of wild and clever creative ideas we thought about bringing to life (many I’m too embarrassed to mention here), but in many cases the ideas became constraints that would alter the gameplay, or the ideas themselves would be conceptually hard to grasp without material we didn’t support in the game,” he added.
That’s not to say that the product they have put out has been faultless; players haven’t hesitated in expressing their frustrations about the overpowered nature of some Agents and abilities.
However, the developers have made it clear that their plan isn’t to have “knee-jerk” reactions to every complaint and demand on social media. Instead, they want players to explore everything before calling for something to be buffed or nerfed.
In short, there are higher priorities on Riot’s plate right now than releasing Valorant for consoles and mobile platforms, and only time will tell when that’ll end up happening.