Valorant is a competitive multiplayer first-person shooter game from the brilliant minds at Riot Games — but some think it is overrated. In case you didn’t know, they are the guys and gals that brought us the world-renowned and industry-shaking MOBA, League of Legends (LoL). Because of that, Valorant arrived on the scene with tons of momentum and, of course, expectations. So much so that many people believed it to be the one to finally end CS: GO’s reign in the competitive FPS space at the get-go.
However, did it live up to the hype or was its popularity just a byproduct of the fact that Riot Games are behind it? Is Valorant overrated?
How Valorant Became Popular So Fast
Apart from being the next big title of Riot Games, Valorant became popular so fast also because of great timing. In 2020, the hero-shooter genre was dominated by Overwatch. Blizzard’s game was so popular in the genre back then that it practically killed off its competition.
Many hero-shooters came and quickly fizzled out because of Overwatch’s dominance in the market. However, as much as everyone wanted to play, they just couldn’t. Despite its immense popularity and overwhelming demand, Blizzard remained adamant to keep Overwatch’s steep price point. It was only in Overwatch 2 that the developers relented and made their popular franchise free-to-play.
At the same time, the competitive FPS space was now seemingly getting stale. CS: GO was king, but players are becoming tired of it already. Worse, new players get a hard time going in. The game was already in the niche for so long that dedicated players are seemingly the only ones still playing it. This means that new players have to compete against seasoned players right off the bat. And believe us, none want that.
Along came Valorant—blindsiding everyone and arrived at the scene with a bang! Furthermore, it served as the answer for the two problematic situations stated above. Those that cannot go to Overwatch because of its steep price felt relieved as Valorant offers the same, but completely free. Additionally, those that grew tired of CS: GO or were blocked off because of the high learning curve, now have a game to fall back to. Looking back, Valorant truly cannot come at a better time.
Does It Deserve All The Praise It’s Getting?
Many brand Valorant as the love-child of Overwatch and CS: GO. Like the former, Valorant has a set of diverse playable heroes that offer variety in terms of gameplay. One agent was unlike the other, ensuring that every counter is dynamic and never the same. On top of that, Valorant, like CS: GO, is highly-competitive and involves critical thinking and deep strategy. In fact, it also has buyable guns and bomb-planting/defusing mechanics.
These elements were so ingrained in Valorant that many saw it as a copycat of the two aforementioned games. Others even argued that it was just another FPS trying to capitalize on the situation. Perhaps even on the tired fans of both Overwatch and CS: GO. Besides that, those with better aim that still struggle with the titles mentioned can be top-class pros in Valorant, mainly because it was still new back then.
Fast forward a few years, Valorant is now in the very same situation it sought to capitalize on before. Yes, it still has a respectable player count, but it is bleeding pretty fast. Furthermore, its competitive scene, which Riot promoted just as well as its premier LOL pro scene, failed to meet everyone’s expectations. It didn’t become as popular as everyone thought it could.
And with Counter-Strike 2 knocking on the door, Valorant may just find itself on the losing end of the cycle it capitalized on back in 2020.
Is Valorant Overrated As a Game?
In our humble opinion, Valorant is good. However, the praises it got back when it was the talk of the town was more than it deserved. The popularity it has now is probably still thanks to the insane hype it generated for itself back then.
So as for the question: “Is Valorant overrated?” Maybe so, but we believe there is nothing wrong with that. Thanks to the dedication of the team behind it, Valorant is now considered a good game on its own. It would be hard-pressed to find a game that became successful by addressing the weaknesses of its competitors more so than Valorant. But then again, we sincerely believe that this game is being praised more than it should.
