Valorant – 1 year anniversary

Valorant was released in June 2020, meaning that it has officially reached its 1st anniversary! Congratulations are due for the Valorant team at Riot Games for all the hard work they’ve put into the game, and that hard work has certainly paid off, as just a few days ago, they announced that Valorant has officially reached 14 million monthly active players, and at least 500 million games have been played! In recognition of the one-year anniversary, the Valorant team is offering players free loot! Mostly this will be distributed through a slate of events or through purchase.

First, the Night Market has returned to Valorant, and it’s here that players can purchase inexpensive skins and random weapons. The Night Market will select these by random and will provide a random discount. Keep in mind that the Night Market will never give a discount on a whole bundle, only single skins. From June 2nd to 7th, players will also be able to vote on which skins should be in the Give Back Bundle, which will be available for purchase from June 22nd to July 8th, and 50% of revenue from skins and 100% of revenue from accessories will go to the Riot Games Social Impact Fund.

Next, there will also be a series of Player Cards available for players to obtain. To claim the Episode One card, players will need to go to the Valorant redemption page on June 9th and use the code: YR1. The Episode Two car will be available through a Prime Gaming Drop on June 14th. Finally, the Episode Three card can be obtained through the free YR1 event pass.

There will also be a community battle pass unique to each region, and players will be able to vote for a unique item like sprays, gun buddies, or titles that best reflect their local regions. The developers will then review the winners and include them in a region-specific Battlepass in Episode 4.

From June 22nd to July 26th, there will be a Squad Boost rewarding teams with extra XP when the group are friends. Squads will receive 8% extra for a tag team, triple threats will earn 12% bonus XP, while four teammates will receive 16%, and queuing with five will earn a 20% experience boost. Keep in mind that these XP boosts apply to all game modes except for custom games.

Valorant currently features 15 playable characters, called Agents, across 4 different roles; Astra, Brimstone, Omen, and Viper act as Controllers, which use tactical abilities that target areas; Jett, Phoenix, Raze, and Reyna are Duelists, which are focused primarily on dealing damage; Breach, Skye, and Sova are Initiators, which dominate in close quarters; and Cyper, Killjoy, and Sage are Sentinels, which use defensive abilities. The developers have teased the possibility that another agent may be added to the roster this month, but there is not much more information beyond that. As soon as we have more information, we will be sure to update you!

Valorant is a free-to-play shooter game developed and published by Riot Games (also the creators behind League of Legends), and is currently available for Microsoft Windows. Like many other competitive shooter games, Valorant is very popular in the Esports community. Valorant was nominated for Best Esports, Best Multiplayer, and Best Community Support at The Game Awards 2020, and since its launch, the game has attracted at least 14 million monthly active players.