The Valorant Team

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a part of a series of deep dives on topics in Gameplay Systems, specifically the Competitive/Social & Player Dynamics space of VALORANT. Learn more about the series in our intro.

Hi everyone, we’re ...

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Hi!

We’re devs who together work on Gameplay Systems in VALORANT—specifically the Social and Player Dynamics team (friends system, text and voice chat, and monitoring player behavior), as well as the Competitive team (competitive systems, MMR,and matchmaking)—here to lay out plans for a series of articles meant to go in-depth on some popular topics.

Something that you’ve voiced to us is that you want more transparency around the Competitive and Social & Player Dynamics (SPD for short) space. Sure, patch notes provide some updates of the things we changed in VALORANT, but we think it’s important to show the impact of our work so far and what’s ahead for this space.

Starting this week, we’ll begin to share a series of deep-dive articles, each of which will cover a very specific topic within our teams. Some articles will share more about the work that’s already happened (and the impact we’ve measured as a result) and some will focus more on planned or ongoing work...

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North America’s Last Chance Qualifier will resume play online on October 27 and end with a Grand Final on October 31. We’re excited to get the action back underway and determine who will take North America’s third and final spot at VALORANT Champions in Berlin.

Bracket and Schedule

The double-elimination tournament will pick up where it left off after Day 1 completed. 100 Thieves qualified for the Upper Bracket Final while Gen.G, LG and XSET all dropped down to the lower bracket.

VALORANT NA wil...

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Hey there! I’m Sammi Pedregon, art outsource supervisor on VALORANT here to talk about the inspiration and process behind the Nunca Olvidados skin.

As much as this article is about how the skin came together, I also wanted to share how this skin brought me closer to my heritage as a second generation Mexican American—far more than I expected it would! Growing up, my Mexican grandparents were always very accepting and straightforward about death, and they somehow saw a beauty behind it that I didn’t yet understand.

As you’ll read, these were themes that inspired Nunca Olvidados and through the process, helped me feel I can better understand where my grandparents were coming from. Yes, death can be scary and inevitable, but once family has passed, why not instead look back and continue to celebrate the memories? I didn’t realize just how much working on this skin would mean to me.

THE TRADITION

Nunca Olvidados is a Mexican-Spanish phrase meaning ...

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No Agents were harmed in the making of Patch 3.08. Instead, you can thank your local dev for those less flashy but important changes coming to VALORANT today. Report feedback, hidden Account Levels, and more are listed below.

Look at those bug fixes!

SOCIAL UPDATES

Persistent Report Feedback

• Your reports matter, and we want you to know that! You will now be notified if we took action on one of your reports, whether you are offline or not.
• If your client is up and running, you’ll receive a notification. If you’re offline at the time of action, fret not! You’ll receive your notification upon your return.
  • Thanks for making VALORANT a safer place through your reports. Keep them coming!

PROGRESSION UPDATES

Level Border Customization

• You will be able to equip any Account Level Border that has been unlocked
  • A tab has been added to Playercard selection.
  ...

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Hello, it’s Matt “K3o” Paoletti here again on behalf of the VALORANT Anti-Cheat team, this time with an update on anti-cheat in Episode 3.

Our biggest projects during VALORANT Episode 3 (so far) came from maintaining competitive integrity, both on ladder and esports, and staying ahead of the curve in the “arms race” of cheat versus anti-cheat.

But first, a quick review on where we left off on Episode 2.

EPISODE 2 REPORT

90-day penalty for “bussing”

As long-term cheating became increasingly unviable, cheaters created disruption in the competitive ecosystem in new ways. Booster...

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Could a primate pose a challenge to the agents of VALORANT? Don’t dismiss it until you’ve seen this particular monkey...

On November 17, Hulu will introduce a new adult animated series based upon the popular Marvel digital comic, Hit-Monkey. The series follows a Japanese snow monkey (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) who, aided by the ghost of an American assassin (Jason Sudeikis), goes on a quest to render revenge as an infamous “killer of killers.” The show will also star George Takei, Olivia Munn, Ally Maki, and Nobi Nakanishi.

The official “Marvel’s Hit-Monkey” trailer will debut during the live broadcast of the VALORANT Last Chance Qualifiers Grand Final on Sunday, October 17. The event stream will also feature several exclusive teasers and mentions fans won’t want to miss.

Here’s a little teaser of what’s to come during the Grand Final:

VALORANT Last Chance Qualifiers kicks off October 12 and is available to stream via Twitch (...

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Throughout 2021 select VCT events will offer open co-streaming. Co-streaming is defined as rebroadcasting content from a current VCT stream while adding live commentary and/or video.

Ensure you have permission before co-streaming any VCT event. Learn how to apply or sign up for the following events here:

• 2021 NA Last Chance Qualifier 

North America VCT Watch Party Guidelines:

• VCT sponsors, sponsored segments, or stitched commercials may not be altered or covered in any way. Do not disparage VCT sponsors.
• All co-streamers and their guests must m...

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Masters: Berlin is behind us. Now, it’s time to find out which team will punch North America's final ticket to the event we’ve all been waiting for — VALORANT Champions in Berlin.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch North America’s Last Chance Qualifier, which kicks off October 12 and runs through October 17.

Tournament Overview

NA LCQ is an invite-only 8-team LAN tournament where the winner will walk away with a ticket directly to VALORANT Champions 2021. With Sentinels and Envy through to Champions already, the stage is set for the remaining top eight North American teams to battle it out to determine the last team standing.

We built this tournament to include the two teams who reached the Grand Final of the VALORANT Oceania Tour 2021: Championship, ORDER and Chiefs Esports Club, and who had thus earned the right to participate in the LCQ. However, due to COVID-19 regulations, travel documentation issues, and additional complex...

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Hi, I’m Joe Lansford, one of the level designers on VALORANT. Now that Fracture has entered the fray, the maps team wanted to take a moment to talk about its creation.

As a refresher, our maps design philosophy since day one on VALORANT is to push each map in a specific direction, instead of trying to accommodate ideal situations for each of the wild number of permutations that our weapons and abilities create. We build each map with a different hook that presents unique scenarios for you to problem solve.

We proposed the same challenge with Fracture and today Brian Yam, one of the lead artists on the maps team, will join me to break it down for you.

EARLY FISSURES - THE DESIGN QUESTION

You may have read by now that we started with the question, “what if attackers could pinch defenders from both sides of the map?” This exploration led to the “H-Shape” layout, ziplines, the four orbs, quadrants, and just about everything e...

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I hope the last patch was enough excitement for one patch cycle. Patch 3.07 is all about fixing a number of common crashes some of you may have experienced in the past.

Slight changes to Deathmatch will remove penalties for leaving Deathmatch early, and Agents who frequently get high can no longer escape the upper most portion of Viper’s wall decay.

Read it below!

AGENT UPDATES

VIPER

Passing through the highest portion of Viper’s wall now correctly applies instant decay to high-flying Agents

Updated the visuals for the dissolving effect seen while inside Viper’s smoke to better match the visuals seen from the outside, in an attempt to remove any type of peeker’s advantage when playing from within ...

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TL;DR: Sophia “Slaze'' Ramirez was found to have repeatedly queued together into Competitive with cheaters. In multiple instances, the cheater would be banned mid-game, log into a new account, and proceed to requeue with Slaze, even after she had received a notification of cheater detection. Slaze is banned from any association or affiliation with a team in a Riot-sanctioned competition for 3 months.

Context

All VALORANT players must abide by the Riot Games Terms of Use (“ToS”). Section 7 of the ToS highlights any activity intended to “boost” an account’s status or rank as an activity that may warrant disciplinary measures. The Riot Anti-Cheat team published a Winter Update (... Read more

With a weekend of open qualifiers in the books, the top eight teams will now battle for ultimate victory at the third and final major VCT Game Changers event for 2021.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Verizon VCT Game Changers NA Series 3 Main Event.

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Game Changers is a year-long program with the goal of creating new opportunities and exposure for women seeking to participate in VALORANT esports, through a combination of community events and top-tier competition.

Verizon VCT Game Changers NA Series 3 Main Event is a double elimination tournament featuring best-of-three matches until the grand final, which will be a best-of-five showdown.

COMPETING TEAMS

• Cloud9 White
• Shopify Rebellion
• Dignitas Fe
• Gen.G Black
• CLG Red
• TSM Female
• NOTHING2LOSE
• Polaris

...

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VALORANT North American Esports and Iconic Events Releasing are excited to be partnering up on a new initiative to bring the North American Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) Grand Final to Cinemark Theatres and select movie theaters nationwide!

With Sentinels and Envy already locked in to VALORANT Champions, there’s only one spot up for grabs and eight North American teams and two Oceania teams will be going head-to-head to claim it.

You’ll be able to see the last two teams standing, catch every second of the LCQ Grand Final action, and find out which team punches their ticket to VALORANT Champions on the big screen on October 17.

“Iconic Events Releasing is thrilled to bring the VALORANT LCQ to movie theaters through our partnership with Cinemark,” said Iconic CEO Steve Bunnell. “Movie theaters offer a safe and inclusive experience for fans across the US to watch these talented players battle it out live in one of the most exciting esports competitions of the year.”...

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We’re thrilled to announce that VCT Game Changers is back for Series 3! These tournaments have been filled with incredible plays, 1v5 aces, and amazing underdog stories, and we’d expect nothing less from some of the top VALORANT talent from around the world.

Here’s everything you need to know about Verizon VCT Game Changers Series 3.

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Game Changers is a year-long program with the goal of creating new opportunities and exposure for women seeking to participate in VALORANT esports, through a combination of community events and top-tier competition. Verizon VCT Game Changers Series 3 will be operated and produced by Nerd Street Gamers.

Verizon VCT Game Changers Series 3 consists of 32 teams in a 5-round Swiss best-of-three elimination into a Top 16 double elimination best-of-three Open Qualifier (September 24 - 26).

Eight teams will advance from the Open Qualifiers to ...

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Q

Will you make it so we can hide account levels?

A

We’ve seen the feedback on account levels sometimes used as fuel to be toxic to another player (be it their rank-to-level ratio, or something else). We hear you and we're working on it right now (along with some other minor improvements to Account Leveling). It'll take a couple of patches to wrap development and release the change, but we intend that those of you who don't wish to share your Account Level can obscure it.

—Naoise Creaven, Senior Producer

Q

I’m usually Gold, but this Episode I’m Silver. When I look at ranked population websites it seems like a lot of people are Silver, why are people lower rank in this Episode?

A

A good place to start is to look at the changes made in Episode 3 intended to refine our matchmaker. These changes have improved m...

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Masters Berlin is right around the corner! More than 2,200 teams from around the world fought for the 16 spots at the tournament. From September 10-19, qualified teams will compete for the Masters Berlin trophy and a direct invitation to VALORANT Champions!

Berlin is the third Masters event of the 2021 VALORANT Champions Tour and represents the last opportunity for teams to earn VCT Points that will count towards qualification for Champions, the end-of-year VALORANT World Final. ...

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The world today looks much different than it did before we launched VALORANT. Riot’s portfolio of games has greatly expanded and many of our players are now enjoying different experiences -- new games, comics and even an animated series. To make it easier to navigate this ever-expanding ecosystem, we are transitioning League+ into a mobile companion for VALORANT and Riot’s other flagship titles.

We are so excited to finally announce the launch of Riot Mobile and get this utility into the hands of our players!

In this article we’ll cover the highlights of Riot Mobile, stability and performance issues we are addressing for players, and what to expect over the next few months.

Introducing Riot Mobile

The first thing you should know is that on October 4th, 2021 League+ will be upgraded to Riot Mobile. When we set out on this project, our goal was to create an experience for players that made it easy to discover new content and a...

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TL;DR: We’re updating our pricing for some regions on September 8th. 

• Brazil, Latin America, Russia, and Turkey will see increased prices due to exchange rates and tax changes.
• Europe will see decreased prices due to changes in exchange rates. 
• From August 23rd to September 8th, players will receive double Bonus Currency from all virtual currency purchases.

Hello all, 

Periodically, Riot evaluates global pricing and makes adjustments to account for changes in currency fluctuations, taxation, and regional discrepancies. These changes can be both increases or decreases. 

This year, we’re making changes to pricing in Europe, Brazil, Latin America, Russia, and Turkey. Below you’ll find the changes that will take effect on September 8th in VALORANT. 

Before this goes live, we’re doubling the Bonus Currency you get with each purchase from August 23rd to September 8th regardless of whether you’re impacted by...

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With Sentinels as the only team locked into VALORANT Champions 2021 so far, the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) is shaping up to be a battle royale as 10 teams fight it out for a final spot at VALORANT Champions 2021.

Here’s what you need to know about the VALORANT Champions Tour 2021: Last Chance Qualifier.

EVENT DATES

LCQ kicks off on October 12, 2021 and runs through October 17, 2021.

EVENT OVERVIEW

LCQ is an invite-only 10-team LAN double-elimination tournament where the winner will walk away with a ticket directly to Champions. Lucky for all teams involved, Sentinels are not participating.

To be invited, teams need to have earned enough circuit points in the VCT tournament season. Adding a little spice, our friends in Oceania are sending over their two best teams to join in on the melee.

Out of an abundance of caution due to the changing nature of COVID-19, this event is closed to the wider public...

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