Valorant goes mobile

MANILA, Philippines – Riot Games' first-person shooting game Valorant is heading to mobile with Valorant Mobile.

The news came a few days after Valorant marked its first anniversary last June 2, with Riot Games' Lead in Global Influencer Programs Ali Miller tweeting it herself.

Still seeing chatter around @PlayVALORANT being leaked as coming to mobile. It is confirmed, @PlayVALORANT is coming to mobile. It is not a leak.

The source is literally us, Riot Games.

— Aliana (Ali) Miller (@AliMiller) June 3, 2021

In an interview with video game website Polygon, Valorant's Executive Producer Anna Donlon discussed the future of the game and updates in its continuing development.

“We didn’t start out with ‘We’re making Valorant on mobile,’ we started out with ‘Can we make Valorant on mobile?’ with a lot of skepticism,” said Donlon. “For us, whatever you get out of playing on PC, you should get out of playing Valorant on mobile. But we have to recognize that the mobile player need is different.”

Donlon also stated that the mobile game will be unique and will not be available for cross-play.

“We’re not trying to convert Valorant PC players into Valorant Mobile players or vice versa," added Dorlon. "We’re absolutely just as committed to keeping the PC experience at the quality level it is or higher, and we’re not going to compromise it in order to address the mobile market.”

Riots Games mulls offering Valorant in consoles as well.

 “Console’s obvious for FPS, right? [...] But this type of game, a tactical shooter, on console is not easy. It’s not easy to have that level of competitive integrity on a platform where the controller is fighting you for that. And we just didn’t want it. [...] So we found it took to mobile quicker and it took to mobile easier.”

With work on Valorant Mobile already happening, Dorlon said they are hopeful to see a release date in two years.

Valorant has been making waves in the esports industry since its launch last year. In the Philippines, the FPS started the Philippine Pro Gaming League (PPGL) with the Valorant Challengers Tour while AcadArena's first University Alliance Cup also featured the FPS game in the first half of 2021.