Riot Games have announced the date for Valorant’s closed beta, but how can you get your hands on the highly-anticipated tactical shooter? We’ve got all the details.
Riot Games have finally announced the closed beta for their upcoming first-person shooter, Valorant. Set to be pushed live on April 7, players from far and wide will have the opportunity to test drive Riot’s tactical FPS.
After teasing a number of Agents already, players have been eager to get their hands on an early access version of the game, and here’s how to do just that.
How do I play Valorant’s closed beta?
Riot Games is collaborating with Twitch to provide fans with access to the closed beta. To be eligible, fans from the selected regions will need to follow a three-step process.
- Register for a Riot account (if you haven’t already done so) here.
- Link your Riot account to your Twitch account here.
- Watch ‘Drops Enabled‘ Valorant streams on Twitch for the opportunity to be entitled for closed beta access.
- Pass the minimum threshold of two hours watched before being entitled to a drop.
- Look out for a Twitch notification/email stating that you have access.
- Download the Valorant client from the official website here and enjoy!
It’s important to note that there are no beta keys flying around, so just follow the above process if you’re looking to be included in the closed beta.
Is Valorant’s beta coming to my region?
The Valorant closed beta will be available in the five following regions: Canada, Europe, Russia, Turkey, and the United States.
In light of the current ongoing health crisis, Anna Donlon added the following statement as part of Riot’s press release.
“We want to engage with players as globally as possible, as quickly as possible; so we’ll ramp up our player count as much as we can to test our infrastructure, but we won’t be letting everyone play test Valorant until we’re absolutely sure we can handle it in this newly-uncertain environment.”
But almost one month since the launch of Valorant’s closed beta, Riot are now looking to push both Latin America and South Korean servers online as of May 5, meaning their servers will be flooded with even more players eager to test the hottest tactical shooter on the market.
Valorant closed beta update from Riot Games
Following the first day of the closed beta, which saw many people struggling to get a code or get online, Riot Games released a pretty lengthy statement about what fans can expect going forward, in terms of accessibility, player feedback and altering ways players can get codes.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
“Demand for access to the Valorant closed beta has inspired us, humbled us, and overwhelmed us,” they started. “We learned a lot from yesterday, and would like to let you know what’s going on with closed beta entitlement drops, what we’re seeing, and to reassure you that you don’t need to watch 48 hours straight of streams.”
They went on to explain that, while they want as many people to access the beta as possible, their servers simply cannot handle too many people at this point. It is therefore unlikely that everyone who wants to access a beta drop will be able to get one.
“We are actively looking into account sellers,” they continued. “If you buy an account for Valorant access, please be aware that your account could be banned before launch! We’re aware of all the viewbotting going on, and do want to reassure you that both us and Twitch have filters in place to distinguish bots vs. people.”
They also stated that you do not need to be present on Twitch for the exact moment your drop comes. For people who have spent hours and hours straight watching streams, Riot have the following messages: “We see you. There’s a shockingly large amount of you, but we should have known this. We can’t guarantee anything but we hope we can reward you for your dedication. Please take a break, we’ll try to get you.”
What are Valorant Points?
As part of their press release, Riot also touched on ‘Valorant Points’ – an in-game currency which will be available during the beta. Yes, that’s right, the closed beta will have access to a fully functional store.
“At full launch, we will give you all of your Valorant Points back, with an additional 20% bonus as a thanks for engaging with our work-in-progress skins and store,” they said.
As an example, Riot stipulated that if players were to purchase 10,000 Valorant Points, they’ll have 12,000 Valorant Points to their name at launch.
In terms of your progress in the beta transitioning across to the main release, the developers confirmed that will not carry over to launch. “Valorant’s current gameplay state may very well change come launch, and it’s better that everyone’s progress begins at the same starting line.”