After much anticipation, Riot Games is unveiling its first-person tactical shooter title, Valorant. Originally known as “Project A,” Valorant is a 5v5 FPS that will launch on PC in most global regions sometime this summer.

A first look at Valorant

The hype around Valorant immediately began during Riot’s 10-year anniversary stream when fans got their first glimpse of the game. At first glance, many compared the title to Overwatch and CSGO despite Riot’s vice president rejecting the Overwatch likeness.

With fresh details now in hand, the new game certainly bears some resemblance to CSGO. Valorant will see two teams of five battle it out in a round-based, best-of-24 gunfight. Additionally, the two teams are respectively referred to as attackers and defenders.

Players will get to choose from what Riot calls a “diverse cast of hypernatural, battle-ready agents.” Set on a near-future Earth, the agents come together from real-world cultures and locations to fight a larger existential threat. These agents have unique abilities, which they can use to retrieve tactical information and lend strategic support.

Valorant‘s Executive Producer, Anna Donlon, commented on Riot’s goals through the development process.

Throughout Valorant‘s development, we wanted to uphold the fundamental values of a competitive tactical shooter: precise shooting, lethal gunplay, and strategic execution. By adding unique character abilities that complement the game’s gunplay we believe we’re expanding upon the traditional tac shooter experience and bringing something new to the game – and we hope the launch of Valorant will be the start of a long-term relationship with tactical FPS fans from around the world.

The competitive edge

With Riot being a fundamental part of esports through games like League of Legends, the development team had optimal competition in mind when making Valorant. As a result, the company invested in what it calls an “unprecedented, best-in-class” back-end to support the game. This includes 128-tick servers for all global players and a custom-built netcode for precise hit registration. Furthermore, the game has server authoritative game architecture and proprietary anti-cheat detection and prevention.

Because ensuring high-fidelity gameplay and maintaining competitive integrity matter the most in VALORANT, Riot Games invested in an unprecedented, best-in-class technical back-end to support the game, including: dedicated 128-tick servers for all global players, for free; a custom-built netcode in pursuit of precise hit registration; server authoritative game architecture and proprietary anti-cheat prevention and detection from day one. VALORANT is highly consequential, so players should know for certain that their win or loss is the sole outcome of their own skill and strategy. – Riot Games

According to Riot, a player with a pistol and steady aim “will always beat” an unsteady sniper in Valorant. Most headshots are instant kills, most rifles kill in three to four bullets, and recoil is punishing.

“Valorant is highly consequential, so players should know for certain that their win or loss is the sole outcome of their own skill and strategy,” a statement from Riot reads.

With Valorant being Riot’s entry into the FPS market, they recently had experts help test-run the game. CSGO commentator Henry “HenryG” Greer gave the game a try a few weeks ago, later tweeting that it was the best game he’d played since CSGO.

Do you think Valorant can take on FPS giants Overwatch and CSGO? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned to Daily Esports for all future updates.