Is VALORANT ready for launch?

Riot Games’ VALORANT topped the charts on Twitch during its beta phase, leaving players and viewers wanting more. But fans are still wondering if the game is really ready for release on June 2. In a post made on the official website, executive producer Anna Donlon and game director Joe Ziegler spoke about what was learned throughout the beta. They also mentioned their plans moving forward with disruptive behavior interventions, anti-cheat, and game readiness.

Image credits to Riot Games

VALORANT Vanguard Anti-cheat

Riot has taken a stance on cheaters in their games before and VALORANT will be no different. A dedicated team of engineers keeps on working to monitor and improve Vanguard, their anti-cheat software. Vanguard automatically disabled drivers on players’ computers that cheaters commonly used. Unfortunately, this turned off drivers used to monitor computer temperatures, leading some players to wonder about Vanguard’s access permissions. Riot explained the engineers are currently working to fix this main issue.

Image credits to Riot Games

Reading through the post, players can understand a bit more of what Riot aims for with Vanguard. The software so far deters cheaters from the game, even banning over 10 thousand users so far.

“Up to now, while we’ve been able to track and understand the inputs by which we identify cheaters, many of our ban waves have been manually reviewed and implemented by our anti-cheat team (and they’ve still managed to ban thousands so far),” said Anna Donlon and Joe Ziegler. “Come launch, we will be more aggressive, widespread, and automated in our ability to detect and ban cheaters.”

Disruptive Behavior Intervention

Donlon and Ziegler also mention that they had been “too slow” with intervening disruptive behavior. Verbal abuse and toxicity are common in multiplayer games because of all the personalities coming together that don’t always mesh. “Almost everyone playing VALORANT wants to compete without fear of harassment or disruption, and it’s on us to provide you the tools and community to guarantee that kind of experience,” Donlon commented. She talked about how Riot and the VALORANT team wants to provide a great experience for all players.

On launch, the team plans to deliver the following.

• Community expectations which are clear and apply to all players
• Improved automation for reporting (chat and report analysis as well as an escalation of common offenders’ punishments)
• 72-hour team chat restrictions for community code violations
• 72-hour team voice restrictions for community code violations

Riot also listens to the community’s opinions via support tickets, in-game reporting, and social media. This helps the developers understand what needs to be worked on and how they can help to make players’ overall experience better.

Ready for VALORANT Launch?

Donlon and Ziegler spoke about balancing VALORANT for launch. Factors like movement, walking and running accuracy, exploits, or gameplay intensity will be subject to improvements. Walking accuracy is an issue that many players pointed. Sometimes it will look as though an enemy will land headshots while seemingly in a full sprint. The recoil and spray pattern of the guns should change based on moving or not moving and there are instances when it is not the case.

“The beta has also allowed us the ability to help define what are acceptable play patterns and what aren’t – i.e. when is a play legit and ingenious vs. when is it a glitch or an exploit,” Donlon and Ziegler said. “We’ve seen some very creative uses of ability combos and pixel perfect placements that go outside of our expectations for the competitive integrity of the game, and now feel confident we can react quickly when new issues arise, as well as solving more fundamental exploits on maps.”

Changing the intensity and length of the main Spike planting game mode is “the largest request” for players, according to Donlon and Ziegler. Developers are now aware of this wish and the VALORANT launch includes an alternative mode for the game. Developers are also brainstorming game mode rotations for the future.

On launch, VALORANT will include new features as well as improvements to current ones in-game. The VALORANT launch and Twitch Rivals Showdown are only a few days away so players will be happy to know that Riot is doing everything possible to create a great FPS experience for all.

Written by Alana Thompson