I do not know if you guys remember, but Riot previously stated that they will explore Valorant Mobile. It has been a while since Riot Games expressed its intent to port its popular first-person shooter to other platforms.
The company previously acknowledged they were exploring bringing the game to mobile and possibly consoles. However, we have not heard any further updates. The last time Riot discussed the possibility was on January 25.
Valorant Executive Producer Anna Donlon starred in a Dev Diaries video posted on January 25th. In the video, she stated that it may take some time before players can experience Valorant on the other platforms.
“We are continuing our work on bringing VALORANT to new platforms,” she said. “It’s going slower than we’d hoped.”
Donlon said that the progress may be going slower than the fans hope but established that they “wanted to make sure that [they] got it right.”
In that same video, the developers discussed its commitment to taking down toxic behavior in Valorant. They also revealed their plans to release new content. The content includes new game modes like a 5 versus 5 Team Deathmatch wherein abilities can be used.
Porting Valorant to Other Platforms Offers Challenges
Riot’s first game, League of Legends, could potentially encounter plenty of issues in porting to other platforms. It’s mostly because it runs on Riot’s proprietary games engine. However, Valorant runs on Unreal Engine 4, so the possibility of porting to a console may not be as challenging.
With that said, Valorant Mobile is a different matter altogether. It took years for Riot to create its mobile version, League of Legends: Wild Rift. They were a little late to the party because other mobile MOBAs, like Moonton’s Mobile Legends, were developed and gained their footing in the Southeast Asian market.
Much like the case with Mobile Legends, NetEase has also released their mobile FPS that eerily looks similar to Valorant which is HyperFront in 2021. Riot may face similar competition in the mobile FPS genre.
Other Valorant Mobile Issues
Additionally, there is the issue of integrating the game that can accommodate cross-platform play. With Valorant being an extremely competitive FPS, playing ranked on cross-platform may prove difficult because of the potentially unfair advantages of using a console versus a keyboard.
However, despite all these challenges, it seems that Riot commits to making Valorant Mobile happen. While it may take a while, there has been a bit of progress on this end. In June 2022, the company announced its partnership with Microsoft and XBOX Game Pass. The players who sign up for the game pass can link their accounts with their Riot Games account. If they do so, they will gain access to all agents in Valorant and all champions of League of Legends.
And with such a partnership, it may be safe to say that porting to XBOX may be one of Riot’s first attempts to make their games cross-platform. Sharp-eyed fans also noticed that Riot had been advertising a couple of positions.
The positions in question are the Senior game designer and game designer for a console. It was also confirmed in the past that the company was also looking at porting the game to mobile. However, there have been no updates on that front so the Valorant Mobile Release Date may still take some more time.
New Valorant Mobile Update!
Riot Games finally has an update for us regarding the awaited mobile app. ONE Esports recently talked to Anna Donlon, Executive Producer, and Andy Ho, Game Director, at Masters Tokyo. In that talk, they asked about an update on the current state of the mobile app.
Donlon mentioned their experience of preparing for the pandemic in 2020. Much like Valorant, they want Valorant Mobile to be ready upon release. After all, they’re tenacity to prepare Valorant for PC gamers during the pandemic led to a huge hit. They also emphasized that they envisioned a game that would resonate with players.
With Valorant’s successful launch, they explained that the game is deep in development. They want to make the game as ready as possible, which also became the reason for their silence. Riot Games also wants to ensure that they refine the mobile app before sharing any more details.
We just don’t want to put Valorant on mobile if it doesn’t work right and if it isn’t as great of an experience as we think we can provide – Anna Donlon, Executive Producer
Donlon also went further to explain that we will hear more about Valorant Mobile when they’re closer to launch. So, stay tuned to the website as we bring you the latest updates.
