Riot Games has a hit on their hands with Valorant, and the League of Legends studio is already working on prototypes for a potential console version of the 5v5 shooter. The open beta for Valorant turned heads when it began in April, becoming an instant smash hit in terms of Twitch viewership and the millions of players that participated in its closed beta. The full version released on June 2, and time will tell how this final version fares against its two main inspirations-turned-competitors, Counter-Strike and Overwatch.
To date, Riot Games has not released a title for consoles like the PlayStation or Xbox. From League of Legends to Legends of Runeterra, all of their titles have released for PC or mobile. But that status quo is beginning to shift. The upcoming League of Legends: Wild Rift is a variation (some would even call it a scaled down version) of the original League of Legends for mobile and consoles. Wild Rift is expected to release before the end of 2020, but it's evidently not the only console project in development at Riot Games.
According to a report from Gamespot, Riot Games is prototyping a version of Valorant for consoles. Though she stopped short of promising a console port of Valorant, Executive Producer Anna Donlon did confirm that prototypes may lead to the potential development of a version of the game for console.
The problem, according to Donlon, is ensuring a level playing field for all users. Games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have come under fire for giving an unfair advantage to PC players over their console counterparts. For a tactical FPS like Valorant, victory is determined by split-second reflexes and situational awareness, much like its key inspiration, Counter-Strike. If a theoretical console version of Valorant is going to feature crossplay with the PC original, it's absolutely vital for Riot Games to prevent PC players from having an edge over console players.
The alternative is for a console version of Valorant to be a completely separate title from the PC version, with its own separate playerbase(s). It's also possible Riot Games could take the Wild Rift route, changing the fundamentals of Valorant to be more accessible to console players using gamepads. Finally, these prototypes could lead to Riot Games developing a completely new game just for consoles, like a Valorant spin-off or something else entirely. In any case, Riot Games are locked in a process of rapidly expanding beyond their League of Legends roots; whether it comes to console or not, Valorant's early success is proof the studio's efforts are already paying off.
Source: Gamespot