Valorant console players can’t aim thanks to years of other FPS games’ muscle memory

Valorant console players have found it hard to unlearn muscle memory from other FPS titles, which is causing them to miss easy shots.

Most FPS titles on major consoles like the PlayStation and Xbox require players to have decent aim and movement mechanics to play at a high level. Call of Duty and Apex Legends are dominated by players who can win gun fights almost through movement alone by strafing and quickly diving for cover.

Valorant, however, is a tactical shooter that rewards players for mastering its movement, but not while they are shooting. Players picking up the Riot Games title on a console are learning the hard way that they need to come to a full stop before shooting.

One player showcased his experience trying to strafe and shoot like he would while playing Call of Duty in Valorant on Reddit. In the clip, both players empty their magazines at each other but do not stop moving back and forth, resulting in almost none of their bullets hitting their intended targets.

Users in the comments found the video hilarious, and many console players chimed in, explaining how they had made the same mistake thanks to years of playing other games.

“No strafing when shooting is the hardest [thing] about playing Valorant on console. So much muscle memory that needs rewiring,” one player said.

“I used to play Apex Legends, Titanfall 2, COD (since BO2), and have to undo 10 years of learning to strafe or move when shooting. It’s been rough,” another responded.

One player pointed out that only a handful of titles on the current console generation are classified as tactical shooters, like Rainbow Six Siege and Insurgency, and none penalize players for moving while shooting.

“Yeah, they’re sh** in this clip but this is pretty new ground for console,” the player said.

Valorant hasn’t been available on console for long, so players should be able to acclimate to the new mechanics in the future. However, it might be hard to flip over to Valorant after a session of another FPS game on the same day due to just how different of a beast the Riot Games title is.