Riot Games announces VALORANT Mobile after a successful first year

VALORANT is coming to a mobile audience, Riot announced. To celebrate the game’s one-year anniversary and successful first year, Riot confirms that the VALORANT franchise is expanding and will also host a month-long in-game event.

With 14 million players each month, according to the developer, Riot has launched a titan of a shooter. To commemorate the astronomical number in its first year, the organization will host an event throughout the month of June, 2021. This includes in-game rewards and initiatives, such as player cards and a free event pass.

What do we know about VALORANT Mobile?

So far, not much is known about VALORANT Mobile. Riot confirmed its plans to expand, starting with VALORANT Mobile, but kept the rest hidden. However, Anna Donlon, VALORANT Executive Producer at Riot Games, confirms that it will be neither a spin-off nor a different type of game.

“One of our top goals this first year was to earn the trust and respect of the global FPS community, and to prove to them that VALORANT will always uphold the fundamentals of a truly worthwhile competitive tac-shooter,” Donlon said. “To see our growing player community recognize and appreciate what we’re trying to do with VALORANT is beyond what we could’ve expected and we’re thrilled to soon offer the same competitive VALORANT experience to even more global players.”

Rumors of VALORANT Mobile have been ongoing for some time now. As far back as September of 2020, data miners found settings for Mobile controls. And, in October, an entire list of settings was leaked. VALORANT may have its origin on PC, but it looks like Riot will grow it into a global franchise.

A strong first year

[brid video=”759822″ player=”25910″ title=”Beta%20Keys%20Broken%20Records%20and%20Fake%20Live%20Streams%20How%20Valorant%20Took%20over%20Twitch” duration=”1189″ description=”First person shooters are some of the most high octane, edge of your seat games in all of esports. Whether it be the synchronized dance of an Overwatch League team fight, or a 360 no scope in Call of Duty, the FPS genre has something to offer for everyone.But for those with a desire for more precise mechanical gameplay there has really only been one option: Counter-strike. For the better part of two decades the Counter-Strike series held a virtual monopoly on the subgenre of tactical shooters.But in the spring of 2020, Riot games introduced Valorant, the tactical shooter that the world didn’t even realize it was waiting for. Over the following month Valorant would take the world, and twitch by storm. With near record viewership and insane levels of fan engagement, the Valorant Closed Beta became one of the biggest events in twitch history, while also becoming one of the platforms biggest targets for scams and view farming.But how did this all happen? For that, we have to rewind back to the beginning, when Valorant was known simply as Project A.Deep-dive into how Valorant took over Twitch in the first installment of Upcomer’s Twitch Takeover video series.Written and Hosted by: Adam Neylan (@NeylanIt)Edited by: Tomás Roldán (@TomasRoldan1993)Graphics and Thumbnail by: Adam Fitzsimmons (@Adam_Fitz_) Supervising Producer: Colin McNeil (@McNeilColin)Visit Upcomer.com and download the mobile app for more. Find Upcomer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/UpcomerFootage sources: https://pastebin.com/Yr7xvsg4″ uploaddate=”2021-04-21″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19254/thumb/759822_t_1618977518.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19254/sd/759822.mp4″]

VALORANT has seen an exceptional first year, with currently over 14 million active players each month. Additionally, there were over a million concurrent viewers during the VALORANT Champions Tour Masters 2: Reykjavík grand final when Sentinels became the first international champions.

The game remains ever-popular among streamers and content creators, as it had originally found its roots on Twitch. Michael Aragon, Chief Content Officer at Twitch, is happy to see the game thrive on the platform.

“A year ago, VALORANT launched and found an immediate home on Twitch,” Aragon said. “Through livestreaming, tournaments and collaboration, the Twitch community embraced all that VALORANT has to offer with excitement and enthusiasm. We love how our creators and viewers have continued to champion and celebrate the world of VALORANT and we are excited to see how the next year unfolds.”

But, Twitch isn’t the only one happy to see the game’s success. Popular streamers pull in viewers by the hundreds of thousands during VCT watch parties. Mike “Shroud” Grzesiek peaked at nearly 335,000 viewers during the VCT Masters 2: Reykjavík grand final. And, according to Shroud, VALORANT is going to be around for a while.

“So long as Riot keeps updating the game with new agents, maps, pushing meta changes and keeping it fresh, VALORANT won’t go anywhere,” Shroud said. “The competitive scene and hosting tournaments are also really important for the game long term.”

So far, Riot is doing an excellent job at keeping VALORANT running. As this is only the game’s first year, one can only wonder how big it will be by its second birthday.