Although the Beta version of VALORANT – Riot’s official shooter game – won’t be released to the international gaming community until April 7th, this name has already climbed into the top 5 most-watched games on the Twitch streaming platform over the past few days, surpassing blockbuster titles like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and CS:GO.
On average, VALORANT consistently boasts over 100,000 viewers at all times, rivaling League of Legends, but during peak hours, the number of viewers for this game even surged to over 500,000.
Despite the game not being officially released yet, most famous streamers have been granted access to a closed beta testing account by Riot Games. As a result, VALORANT livestream channels on Twitch are operating at full capacity, attracting tens of thousands of players to follow and explore this game.
It’s clear that VALORANT’s ability to attract a massive following just before its release is understandable. With the label “Riot’s official game,” almost every gamer worldwide is curious to see if the creator of League of Legends can break free from the shadow of its flagship product, even though the FPS combined with MOBA genre is not something entirely new.
However, to maintain long-lasting appeal, VALORANT also needs to introduce new improvements in gameplay. Through various streams, we can easily see that this game differs slightly from Overwatch, as the character skill system plays a supportive role, while defeating opponents still relies primarily on traditional shooting mechanics.
In other words, if we were to make a comparison for easier understanding, VALORANT is like a version of CS:GO with added skills. Additionally, the upcoming Beta version of this game has received quite a mix of feedback; some praise the graphics and gameplay, while others are dissatisfied with the stiff and somewhat unrealistic character movements.
After all, this is still just an initial testing version, and it is too early to assess VALORANT’s potential for success or failure. What we do know is that at this moment, Riot Games is doing an excellent job promoting their game without needing to “ride the coattails” of League of Legends.