Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
With Valorant coming up on one month since it was released globally, both players and developers are starting to get a better understanding of the game, its flow, and its community. With Valorant being an ongoing online experience, Riot Games’ work is far from over. The developer acknowledges this in a dev diary, where they give an update on what fans can expect to see in the game over the coming months.
The Valorant dev diary was posted to the game’s official Twitter account. In the video, Executive Producer Anna Donlon reflects on the first month of Valorant and details what changes and additions Riot Games has in store. One of the most notable parts of the video was the segment on episodes and acts. Valorant’s content is broken up into episodes, which last roughly six months. Within these episodes are acts. Lasting about two months each, acts function similar to season in other games. During the dev diary, Donlon states that Riot Games plans to add a new agent at the start of each act.
This totals out to 6 new agents per year in Valorant. While we already knew that the developer planned to add more agents over time, this is our first concrete timetable as to when we should expect said agents. Act 1 of Episode 1: Ignition saw Reyna added to the roster, so the next agent should arrive when Act 2 begins sometime in August.
Another big takeaway was the announcement of brand new modes being in the works. Valorant currently sports three ways to play with competitive, unrated, and spike rush. Donlon claims that development on new modes has actually been accelerated. Though the team isn’t exactly sure what the release cycle will be for these new modes, fans can expect to see a new addition before Act 2 kicks off.
With Valorant being a fresh IP full of unique characters and locations, players have certainly been wondering if there’s any story or lore behind it all. With Valorant being a strictly multiplayer title, Riot plans to tell the story through their acts and episodes. We’ve already seen some Valorant cinematics that clue us in to the agents and their relationships, and we can expect to see more in the future.
Lastly, Donlon talks about player behavior and how the developer may have fallen short in terms of cracking down on those who harass and mistreat others in-game. Valorant has a team dedicated to working on the behavior penalty system, and they’re currently working on ways to better the process of hoisting the bad apples from the game. Donlon urges players to use the report system when they spot poor behavior, as it will help inform their player penalty system. She also announces that Valorant will soon notify players when action has been taken on another player as a result of their report. It’s no secret that multiplayer games, specifically shooters, can be a breeding ground for some of the most toxic behavior in gaming.
That just about wraps up everything discussed during the first post-launch dev diary for Valorant. Only running about 5 minutes long, there was certainly a lot to unpack. We are very much looking forward to seeing how Valorant changes and grows over time. As it does, you’ll want to keep it locked to Shacknews’ Valorant home page for the latest updates and guides for Riot Games’ FPS.