Interview – We Discussed Valorant’s Future with Riot Games

We are celebrating the 1st anniversary of Valorant, which came out on June 2, 2020 and was a huge success. Valorant now has an average of 14 million PC players per month, and the game hosted over half a billion matches in its first year. These are really important achievements.

So we interviewed Riot Games about valorant’s present and future. We would like to thank Bahadir Güven, Riot Games Turkey Community Manager and VALORANT Product Manager, who answered the questions we prepared together with Ali Sezgin, Engin Vural and Mert Gökhan in detail.

Bahadir Güven

OGZ: One of the reasons League of Legends quickly became popular in Turkey was the micro-management approach shown by your team. For example, direct contact with internet cafes, accessible from cafes from the early stages of the game, included audiences who did not have access to a computer that would remove the game directly at that time.

Looking back today, both culturally and internet cafes are not as popular as they used to be, and because of Covid, players have not been able to reach them for a long time. Do you think this has any effect on Valorant?

Riot Games: Internet cafes are of great importance to the audience in Turkey, this is an indisputable fact. As Riot Games, since the opening of the Turkish office, we have made significant investments for our players in internet cafes and for the development of the ecosystem there. In this context, we have witnessed a process that has transformed from “under stairs” cafes to an environment where there is very good equipment. Of course, the closure of cafes during the pandemic process has had an impact on the café player, but it is difficult to say that VALORANT has performed well above our expectations. We expect to meet even more players with the gradual activation of cafes, and as with LoL, we always have events in mind that will reach our café players directly.

When we position Valorant as a product in gameplay, I think it’s between Counter Strike and Overwatch, and probably closer to CS. Counter-Strike is still in good shape, but another Valorant rival, Overwatch, is not having its best days. Does that worry you? Do you think the tendency of Competitive Shooters to be replaced by more accessible games is a threat?

It’s a constant fact for us that players can’t wait and try out new games. However, I think one of the biggest factors in the fact that a game is no longer played is that it does not adapt itself according to the desire and hunger of the community, ignores the problems experienced by the player and delays in finding solutions to in-game balance, cheating, technical problems. As with our other games, we want to keep the current feeling fresh with regular updates for VALORANT, in-game events, changes in the way the community questions and complaints.

There are now 6 maps of the game. Do you intend to offer players the right to choose a map or some kind of voting for ranked matches?

At the moment, there is no choosing a map between plans. This may change in the future depending on the player’s demand and the health of the game, but for now we continue with the system where each map comes in balanced.

One of the players’ complaints is the presence of the Smurfs. Some of these are players who open accounts to play with their friends. What precaution do you think you’re taking?

We agree how unpleasant it is to play against the Smurfs. This is something that the game team is actively pursuing and working on. In short, I have to mention, the issue of Smurf needs to be addressed from more than one point. Why does a player open a second account, can we meet this need in another way? Questions such as whether the correct fight against these accounts is punishment or another systemic change are still being investigated. In this process, the team continues to work regularly to detect and match high-level smurf accounts early. Our readers who want to know more about the subject can also find more detailed information with this in the article “Ask VALORANT” published on May 6th.

Do you intend to separate solo and team ranks, as in League of Legends? Are you considering an FLex-like mode that works against smurfs?

I think the majority who played valorant was more enjoyable with friends have experienced it. We have also heard requests for groups of five or five friends from different levels to play together at a particularly high level, and we are working on systems to meet this need. More information will come with chapter 3.

Will Valorant take the battle royale train? Is a side battle royale mode planned, as in Counter-Strike: GO?

There are no plans in this area yet.

Esports has always been a great marketing tool for League of Legends. Are you happy with Valorant’s ratings as he begins to make his major tournaments? What do you intend to do as esports to consolidate Valorant’s place?

The viewing pleasure and viewing numbers of Masters 2 were extremely satisfactory. With LoL, we have made great strides in the field of esports and seen what a passionate audience follows. Apart from that, we see that competition is the common language between all regions where the game is played. The formation of interregional competitions and the stories that arise from these places also give a distinct pleasure to the esports audience. Our improvements are continuing regularly so that the game can develop further in the field of esports, with increased competition and to provide a suitable experience for the audience. Since First Strike, there have been plenty of in-game improvements, from audience experience to coaching inclusion, and changes will continue to be made to maintain the health of the competition and enhance the viewer’s viewing pleasure.

Although the FPS type is synonymous with PC, consoles also have a significant gaming audience. Can we get a clear picture of Valorant’s transition to consoles? If this port is going to happen, how will the esports arena change?

Discoveries are underway to deliver a VALORANT experience on different platforms, and if we get the opportunity to offer the same experience, of course we’d like to meet with the FPS player on consoles as well. In this case it is difficult to say how esports is shaped, we have plenty of steps to take before we get to that point. Our priority at this stage is to continue to provide the best experience for the players.

Valorant is already a very popular esports in our country. Each team has created a passionate fan base. We wonder if there will be a campus program in Valorant, as in Riot;un LoL; Or what are the new plans for the esports scene?

Currently, the ambassador program of all our games is active and ongoing with 96 ambassadors instantly. . We announced the VALORANT Campus Ambassadors program during the Closed Beta period and the purchases have been completed for now. You can find the contact information of the ambassadors who will organize various events and tournaments for the VALORANT community at their universities on this page. We are working on more events specific to universities.

Speaking of a passionate fan base, we think we miss physical activity a lot. When are we going to see a full Valorant Champions Tour Turkey final? Is there a project on this?

It’s one of the things we miss a lot when we gather with the players and watch a game screaming at an exciting finals event. We’re waiting to see when we can have the first physical event and get together with the VALORANT audience. One of my personal dreams is to be able to do an international event in Turkey because the audience here is really passionate and big. It’s one of my biggest dreams to show it to the rest of the world.

What surprises will you have for the first age of the game? Can we get a little hint about new characters or maps? please.

As much as I’d love to, it wouldn’t be right to leak the work of a team that’s put so much effort into 😀 The playing team worked very hard to make it an anniversary to celebrate, and I believe the players will be pleased.

Will there be a significant change in the number of characters in the coming period, or do you plan to continue by focusing on balance without expanding the available cast too much? (Will we be able to get a hint from the new characters coming in?)

We are pleased with the agent/map range currently underway. Of course, there may be slowdowns depending on the situation, as a team regularly monitors the health of the game. The balance of the game is always a priority for us, you can expect a pattern where this continues to be maintained (there may be occasional disruptions, of course).

Vanguard, which you use to prevent cheating, became one of the important agendas of the game’s release period, attracting the reaction of some players. Do you think a different way could have been used to prevent the concerns?

Obviously, we observe that most of the complaints and fears on the Vanguard side have subsided. Our technical teams also make detailed explanations to alleviate these fears in vanguard at every opportunity. In the past year, we have seen a lot of the benefits of such a protectionist system, and even despite such a protectionist system, we are still seeing developers working to develop cheats and disrupt the game layout. In the same way, we continue to work to capture and remove it as soon as possible.

Is there any new information you can share with us about game modes? What new things await us in the coming period regarding season content, periodic content and game modes that will be constantly active?

Modes such as Copy, Climbing, and Snowball clash will change with 2-week rotations. The reason we don’t open them all at once is mainly to maintain your health. However, when new modes arrive, it will be included in this rotation. The answer to questions such as what modes should come and how long to stay will be predominantly based on comments from players, so please remember to tell us about your experience.

What level of interest is the game receiving, has your player pool reached the level that meets your expectations? Are you satisfied with the current picture or is there a significant distance to go for you?

There is a lot of interest in the game, especially in Turkey. It’s above our expectations around the world. We’ve surpassed 14 million players in the world and we believe we still have a long way to go. We continue to reach out to players who have not yet given a chance in Turkey and work to be a satisfactory choice for them. With the arrival of a mobile version of the game in the coming period, we want to be accessible to gamers around the world at any time.

More and more examples of online competitive games are emerging every year. Do you think we have reached a saturation point (or are we close to this point) or do you expect the popularity of such games to increase in the coming period? What are your plans to keep the interest in Valorant alive?

Our games have always been aimed at a competitive audience, and to tell you the truth, it’s a pretty big audience. I’m guessing beating a friend, claiming it and getting this win every time gives him the same pleasure as most of us. And considering the distanced sociality part of the business, it’s no wonder that online competitive games have attracted a lot of attention over the years. If esports continues to develop at this rate, it is unimaginable to expect the growth rate of competitive games to continue in this way. We will continue to work to ensure that VALORANT can continue to swim in the same lane as its competitors and remain fresh.

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