Ask VALORANT #2

This is Ask VALORANT. We collect your questions and select a few to get answered every other week. This round we tackle cross-region play, pick and ban system, and a possible deathmatch-type mode.

Q

Do you have any plans to change the aim punch? Like, each weapon getting a different amount of aim punch?

A

Not at the moment, but I do think there’s an opportunity to lessen aim punch in extreme cases, for example, a long fire from a pistol or shotgun that is inflicting minimal damage with lots of fall off.

—Trevor Romleski, Senior Game Designer

Q

Many of us are wondering, will there be a deathmatch mode?

A

Deathmatch is absolutely a mode that is coming to VALORANT in the future. We don't have a timetable yet, but it's something where we're actively working on the underlying technology as well as designing, iterating, prototyping, and playtesting right now.

—Jared Berbach, Lead Game Modes Producer

Q

Are there any plans to make the VALORANT client a non-full screen application?

A

"There are no plans at the moment for menus to have their own display mode setting like the League Client where it launches an executable ‘game’ in full-screen from a news/store/friendlist client. This is mostly due to the fact that VALORANT is an all-in-one executable, whereas League’s is two separate ones. Players can currently put the game into windowed and windowed fullscreen which will also apply to their in-game experience.”

—Steven Eldredge, Senior Producer

Q

Will there be a pick and ban system with Agents and maps?

A

We've considered a draft phase for agents, but the current thinking is that we would not have bans. For some more reasoning around bans: first, we expect teams to have set plays and strategies that will require very specific agents. Banning an agent would invalidate that entire strategy, and we don’t want to discourage practice.

Second, bans often remove a players’ star agent and we want players who are exceptional at certain agents to be able to play them and show off their skills with them. Finally, because VALORANT doesn’t have hard counters in the form of agents (this isn’t our design philosophy), we think the game state is healthier if we’re held accountable to ensuring no agent or agent-facilitated strategy becomes so oppressive or unsolvable that a ban is the only choice.

—Trevor Romleski, Senior Game Designer

Q

Will it be possible to play in other regions? Example, playing on NA servers while being on EU?

A

While we know that some friendships can be easily sustained across thousands of miles, a fast internet connection can’t. All games of VALORANT must be hosted on a single game server located in a single physical location, so even if we allow someone in Japan to queue up with someone in the UK (for example), one of them has to connect to a game server that’s very, very far away. This also means that 8 other players in the game will have to play with someone with a bad connection—and they didn’t sign up for that! We’re going to keep an eye on demand here, but for a game as precise and demanding as VALORANT, we have to focus on keeping all matches fair.

—Dave Heironymus, Technical Director of VALORANT