Valorant has been smashing the PC gaming arena for four years now. However, console players have always been exempt from this fun. Then came the Summer Game Fest 2024, where the official limited beta release of the game was announced.
After a tricky limited beta, the game surfaced in an open beta phase on July 26, but in selected regions. But fans have been waiting for a full release. It seems like Riot has paid heed to these fans’ requests.
Valorant Is Now Live on Consoles
Riot has recently announced that Valorant has made an exit from the beta phase and is now live on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The game is still not available in all the regions. Similar to the beta phase, the 5v5 shooter is available on consoles in the following regions: North America, Europe, and Japan.
console? live
ranked? back— VALORANT (@VALORANT) August 2, 2024
Riot has announced this news with a new cinematic called ‘Incursion Imminent.’ Fans previously speculated about the teaser of this cinematic being a teaser of an upcoming agent, a mobile version of the game, or a new map. However, this cinematic comes out as the official announcement of the game on consoles.
🚨 Incursion Imminent 🚨
VALORANT is now LIVE on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. pic.twitter.com/cX5boZXPRI
— VALORANT (@VALORANT) August 2, 2024
On July 30, the game had gone for a Cometitive Downtime. Riot also stated that the ranked mode will be live on Aug. around 9 a.m. PT. Since then, it has been speculated that this was going to be the full release of the game.
Riot has also confirmed that there will be no one-day patch of the game. The last one to surface in the game was Patch 9.02, which solved almost all the problems for the console players. Upcoming patches will roll out simultaneously on both PCs and consoles in the near future.
Still There’s No Crossplay
You can jump in with your Xbox to play the game with a friend who has a PlayStation. But like the beta version, the game still doesn’t feature any crossplay between the PC and console versions. In this one aspect, it will be hard for this game to topple Call of Duty.
However, to maintain a parity between console and PC players, there’s a Focus mode for the console version. In this regard, this is what the production director of the game, Arnar Gylfason, had to say in a Q&A with the press:
One of my favorite new features for consoles is Focus while shooting. In order to provide the same experience as PC, where Hip-Fire is the primary shooting mode and ADS is a secondary, supporting mode, we experimented with multiple adaptations and gamepad sensitivities. And that’s when Focus comes in. Focus is a new shooting mode that behaves essentially like Hip-Fire but with reduced sensitivity.
However, there are still some complications to maintaining a balance between console and PC, like Apex Legends is facing right now.
Developers had to reduce the aim assist intensity by 25% on consoles in the crossplay lobby to stop players from taking some undue advantages against PC players using a console controller.
What’s your opinion about the full release of Valorant on consoles? Let us know in the comment section.
