Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve no doubt heard about Valorant by now. Valorant, formerly known as Project A, has entered closed beta on Twitch. The results have been nothing short of staggering, as legions of fans check out Riot’s newest product. Alongside Twitch, Riot announced today that Valorant has already set new records on the streaming platform.
What is Valorant?
Valorant marks Riot’s 4th game release. League of Legends was their first, released in late 2009. Since then, they’ve released Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra. Both games use the League of Legends world and characters. Valorant marks Riot’s first departure from Runeterra, introducing a new cast of characters and world. The game is a tactical shooter, featuring two teams of five players.
Unlike contemporaries in the genre like Counter-Strike or Rainbow Six: Siege, players will choose a character with unique abilities to play as. Unlike Overwatch however, the fundamental game-play works more like Call of Duty and Counter-Strike, with movement and accuracy being key focuses. Players focus on eliminating the other team or completing a map objective. Maintaining an economy is important as well because players need to purchase their equipment and dying means you lose everything.
Twitch Viewership is Off the Charts
Valorant officially entered closed beta this week and wasted no time shooting to the top of the Twitch chart. Within hours of launch, the beta broke Twitch’s record for single-day hours watched. The game also surpassed 1.7 million peak concurrent viewers, breaking a record set by the 2019 League of Legends World Championship Finals. Valorant set a new record with 34 million hours watched.
“With VALORANT, Riot Games has proven once again that building a strong community on Twitch from day one is key to success,” said Ben Vallat, SVP of Alliances and Corporate Development at Twitch. “We’re seeing incredible excitement across the community and, just as with League of Legends, we’re pleased to be a part of VALORANT’s success story from the start.”
For additional details about the VALORANT Closed Beta, including Twitch entitlement guidelines, visit www.PlayVALORANT.com.
Looking for something to do while under quarantine? Check out the Shutdown Showdown! It’s a charity APEX Legends tournament benefiting No Kid Hungry. The tournaments are running on Tuesdays throughout April with proceeds going to charity. It’s just $10 to enter and you can enter solo or with your friends. Check it out here!
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