Riot Games' Valorant is leaving closed beta on May 28 and officially launching just days later on June 2, the developer revealed today during Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest stream. Valorant has been a massive success for Riot Games, the studio most famous for creating League of Legends and turning that title into a worldwide phenomenon that is at the zenith of a still-growing esports scene.
Valorant has managed to live up to the expectations placed on it as a major release from Riot Games, despite occupying an entirely different genre than League of Legends. The game, which plays out like a mashup of other multiplayer greats Overwatch, Apex Legends, and CS:GO, has had a prolific closed beta period that has seen fans clamoring for beta code drops as part of a streaming promotion. Major esports players for other games have already announced their switch to Valorant, too, a bold move for a game that hasn't even left beta yet - and one that speaks to the confidence many fans have with its place in esports' future.
Today, Riot Games announced that Valorant's ascension to the top of multiplayer shooters isn't going to wait much longer. The game will be leaving its closed beta on May 28, 2020, and then taking a brief period off before it officially launches on June 2, 2020. Despite the many, many hours fans have logged during the closed beta, Valorant closed beta progress will not carry over into the final game, meaning it'll be a fresh start for everyone.
Riot Game also announced several other major details about the future of Valorant after it launches. The game will have new servers across the world, including in Atlanta, Warsaw, and London. Riot Games also revealed that the developer already has plans for new game modes, new characters, and new maps, and that more details would be revealed when the game officially launches on June 2. Fans can expect character teasers and more in just a few weeks, but there will be a new game mode, new day one map and a new 11th agent coming on launch day.
It's clear that Valorant is going to be a massive player in multiplayer gaming, and has already cemented itself as a title to watch in 2020 and beyond. That doesn't make the game bulletproof, however, as titles like Apex Legends have taken the world by storm in the early-going only to stumble in later implementation and updates. That said, Riot Games has a history for improving its products by iterating relentlessly, and with all the experience from League of Legends - a game that requires tricky balancing and content updates to keep players interested - there's a lot of evidence to suggest Valorant will avoid those pitfalls and be a global phenomenon to rival even Riot's other stellar properties.
Source: Summer Game Fest