Valorant developers explain how Riot intends to “expand” the FPS genre

Key developers at Riot Games have gone on record to explain how Valorant will push boundaries and “expand” upon the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre.

Shortly following the official reveal as Project A shifted to Valorant, Riot Games unveiled a slew of new information surrounding its upcoming FPS title.

Chatting with Eurogamer, Valorant’s Game Director, Joe Ziegler, and Lead Producer, Anna Donlon, shed new light on the development process. Expanding on their philosophy, the duo explained how the game came to be and how they are intending to “expand” the FPS genre as a whole.

While Riot has long been atop the pack in terms of presence in the MOBA genre, and a number of titles are in the works ranging from fighting games to RPGs, Valorant marks the companies first foray into the FPS scene and it is clear that they already have lofty goals.

Recounting the early days of ideation around a potential FPS project, Ziegler emphasized that the developers themselves wanted to push for a shooter, rather than Riot higher-ups demanding a game of the sort.

• Read more: How does Valorant’s economy compare to CSGO? Full analysis

“A lot of the impetus for driving the project was actually just familiarity with this space and a desire to create something that will expand upon it, more than anything else,” he explained.

Instead of simply trying to gain a foothold in the FPS scene, the developers appear to be approaching the project from a point of passion and inspiration, weighing up how they can push the space further through fresh ideas and iteration on core fundamentals of hallmark titles.

“We don’t have a wall up that says ‘must be better than Counter-Strike’ or, ‘must take half of Overwatch’s player base,’ those aren’t actually our goals,” Donlon outlined.

• Read more: Is Valorant coming to PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch?

“Our goals are more about getting our game out and evolving it with our players and growing a community. That’s literally our goal. How wide and broad that can go is what we’re excited to see.”

Riot Games

Valorant will launch as a Free-To-Play title.

Directly comparing their upcoming release to Blizzard’s hero shooter, the duo elaborated on internal expectations and how they are trying to avoid the notion of “killing” the competition.

“We look at a game like Overwatch and we look at a game like our game – we see why certain players would play Overwatch, we see why certain players would play our game,” Ziegler commented. 

• Read More: Will my PC run Valorant? Minimum and recommended specs

“But as far as it goes in terms of ‘hey, we’re gonna kill this game,’ we’re carving our own space.”

Riot Games

Comparisons have already been drawn between Valorant’s economy to that of CSGO.

The highly-anticipated Valorant is set to release in the Summer of 2020 but before players are able to get their hands on the full release, here’s a rundown on everything we know about the shooter thus far.

From in-depth breakdowns on every character and their unique abilities to an overview of the 17 revealed weapons, we’ve got you covered.