Valorant: What is it? Game Modes, Weapons, Characters, Release Date & more

Valorant is Riot Games’ upcoming competitive FPS, and it looks like it will be class-based shooter mixed with elements of the popular game CS:GO.

The game also appears to blend the character abilities of Overwatch with 5v5 gunplay that rewards quick reflexes and precision.

We've also heard that Riot Games has put a huge amount of work into ensuring that lags won’t get in the way of gameplay.

Riot has kept things pretty much watertight, so continue below for everything we have found on the upcoming game.

What is Valorant about?

So, we know that it is a tactical 5v5 character-based shooter set in a near-future version of Earth.

ACCESS: For the best chance of getting access to the closed beta, follow the instructions on our hub article

We're expecting to see 10 characters at launch - or at least that is the logical assumption to make.

More characters will likely come post-launch, and all of them have a set of four unique abilities, and you have to buy armour and weapons with money earned between rounds.

You're locked in with your character for the duration of the match, which can consist of up to 24 rounds AND be forced to sudden death in the event of a tie.

Release Date

Riot hasn’t officially confirmed a release date for Valorant, but they plan to release the tactical shooter at some point in the summer of 2020.

SCOPE: Judging from the 2-minute gameplay trailer, the weapons are kitted out with a multitude of intuitive scopes

The exact release date will depend on feedback received during Valorant’s beta, as well as the impact of Coronavirus on Riot’s dev team.

Game Modes

The main mode we've seen is 'Bomb Defusal', and just like in CS:GO, one team will have to plant a bomb at a site while the other team defends.

SNEAK 100: Creep up on the opposition to execute them

The abilities seem somewhat inspired by Overwatch, but Valorant has some key distinctions that make it a lot more like Counter-Strike.

READ MORE: Everything there is to know about Rainbow Six Quarantine

One of them being each character's "ultimate" ability which has an insanely long cooldown that can last multiple rounds.

Weapons

However, Valorant's combat emphasizes skilled gunplay over high-powered abilities.

Headshots will almost always be a one-hit kill, and most rifles will kill characters with three or four shots to the body.

Expect firefights in Valorant to be fast and intense.

READ MORE: What is Bethesda’s upcoming title, Starfield?