Riot has only just pulled the veil back on its 5v5 tactical shooter Valorant, but it sounds as though we may be able to play it sooner rather than later. An industry insider believes the Valorant beta may be launching before the end of the month.
Speaking to Cheddar Esports in an interview spotted by Dot Esports, esports consultant Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau says the Valorant beta will be coming out “most likely in the next few weeks,” and that the public will be able to give it a shot when that happens. Breslau has also shared what appears to be an official email from Riot to pro players and content creators that announces the cancellation of a gameplay capture event for Valorant that had been scheduled for March 10-12 in Los Angeles and Barcelona. The events have been cancelled as part of the worldwide response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The email says Riot is working on putting some finishing touches on the game so that the players who had been invited to the events will be able to try out Valorant at home.
While the gameplay capture events have been cancelled, it’s likely they were meant to help build anticipation for Valorant, and for the beta. Respawn held a similar event immediately prior to the surprise launch of Apex Legends last year, and it’s possible Riot had planned on a similar kind of rollout for Valorant’s beta.
“Not sure if this will have any effect on Riot’s plan for the beta release or promotion around it,” Breslau wrote in a follow-up tweet.
"There's not a better time for Riot to be producing this type of game."@Slasher shares his thoughts on Riot's 5v5 tactical shooter, Valorant, and how it will match up against other FPS's. pic.twitter.com/QfgNLHKGDa
— Cheddar Esports (@CheddarEsports) March 4, 2020
Breslau tells us his sources say the Valorant beta is likely “sometime with the next few weeks/month.” That lines up with everything we’ve heard so far, which had strongly suggested a launch planned before this Summer.
We’ve got a rundown of all the Valorant classes and abilities, as well as a guide to all the Valorant guns we’ve seen so far, so while you wait for the beta to drop, you can get yourself prepared and ready to dominate the arena.