KEY POINTS

  • Riot Games confirmed they are “exploring” other platforms for “Valorant"
  • However, the game developer and publisher remains focused on the PC version as of the moment
  • "Valorant" is currently on closed beta phase

Riot Games has confirmed that they are considering bringing “Valorant” to consoles and mobile, but it is not something that is in their immediate plans.

In an interview with The Express Online, game director Joe Ziegler admitted that they are “exploring” other platforms for “Valorant.” However, he noted that they are primarily focused on the PC version of the game, so a mobile or console version won’t be coming in the near future if ever they decide to do it.

“While we are exploring other platforms like console and mobile, right now the team is working hard to deliver a top notch experience on PC,” Ziegler explained.

“Valorant” is still in a closed beta phase, so it is understandable why Riot Games is not committing to releasing the game on other platforms yet. Moreover, the game developer and publisher has recently reiterated their commitment to fixing any major issue in the game before it is fully released in the summer of 2020.

The game has been getting rave reviews, particularly because of its gameplay and graphics that are a mix of “CS:GO” and “Overwatch.” However, creating a team-based first-person shooter on such a scale as “Valorant” has plenty of challenges – specifically in its narrative.

“Team PVP focused games traditionally have a tough time telling stories or even building worlds to tell meaningful stories in, and ‘Valorant’ was no exception,” Ziegler said when asked about the challenges they have encountered in developing the game.

“As we built ‘Valorant,’ there were a lot of wild and clever creative ideas we thought about bringing to life (many I’m too embarrassed to mention here), but in many cases, the ideas became constraints that would alter the gameplay or the ideas themselves would be conceptually hard to grasp without material we didn’t support in the game.”

Given the required amount of work to transform a game for other platforms, it is easy to see why Riot Games are focusing only on PC for now. However, that doesn’t mean console and mobile versions for “Valorant” will not be arriving.

For what it’s worth, Riot Games announced in 2019 the mobile version of “League of Legends” called “League of Legends: Wild Rift.” This is after initially claiming that it is nearly impossible to transform the MOBA game to mobile.

Gaming
Visitors play 'Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward' at the Paris Games Week, a trade fair for video games in Paris, Oct. 26, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier