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15 days
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VALORANT
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| 11s | Hey everyone! |
|---|---|
| 12s | If you don't know me, |
| 13s | I'm Anna |
| 13s | and I head up the VALORANT studio |
| 15s | here at Riot Games. |
| 16s | Oh, and Happy New Year! |
| 18s | I hope you're all having |
| 19s | an amazing winter, |
| 20s | or summer, |
| 21s | or whatever season it is |
| 22s | wherever you are playing VAL from. |
| 24s | So I wanted to kick off the year |
| 26s | a little differently this time. |
| 27s | Don't worry, |
| 28s | you'll still be getting loads |
| 29s | of amazing updates from Andy |
| 31s | and Leo |
| 32s | and the whole team. |
| 33s | That’ll be coming in a few days |
| 34s | and then all throughout the year. |
| 36s | But I was thinking, |
| 37s | I was thinking about like, |
| 38s | how do you kick off a new year? |
| 40s | Are you reflective on the last year? |
| 42s | Or are you dreaming |
| 43s | about the year ahead? |
| 44s | And for me, it's actually both. |
| 47s | First, looking back. |
| 48s | So 2024 was a fantastic year for VAL. |
| 52s | We launched two new agents |
| 53s | with Clove and Vyse... |
| 55s | lots of butterflies... and lots of thorns. |
| 58s | We added Abyss into the map pool |
| 59s | keeping you all right on the edge... |
| 62s | or not. |
| 63s | We brought VALORANT to console. |
| 65s | And then the last time |
| 66s | I chatted with you all, |
| 67s | I was eating fried chicken |
| 68s | and firing off a t-shirt cannon |
| 69s | at Champs Korea |
| 70s | after watching that insane |
| 72s | five game series |
| 74s | between EDG and Team Heretics. |
| 76s | But the year didn't end at Champs. |
| 78s | We also crowned a new |
| 79s | Game Changers champion, |
| 80s | we had a blast in the world of Arcane, |
| 82s | we added a new map to TDM, |
| 84s | made a bunch of game updates |
| 86s | and brought you lots of cats. |
| 88s | Apparently, you guys really |
| 90s | really like cats. |
| 92s | And now, looking ahead. |
| 93s | As we're planning out this next year, |
| 95s | some themes started forming. |
| 97s | Themes that our teams became |
| 98s | really really excited about. |
| 100s | Ones that both reflect |
| 101s | the journey we've been on |
| 102s | and the journey ahead. |
| 103s | So with that, |
| 104s | I'm here to welcome you to 2025. |
| 109s | This year is a special one for us, |
| 112s | it's our five year anniversary. |
| 114s | Not a birthday, |
| 115s | an anniversary, |
| 117s | a celebration of a relationship. |
| 119s | One that started in the midst |
| 120s | of a global pandemic |
| 122s | if you can believe it. |
| 123s | And now here we are, |
| 124s | five years of being on this |
| 126s | incredible journey with all of you. |
| 128s | When we launched the game, |
| 129s | we just hoped we'd made something |
| 130s | you'd love playing as much as we did. |
| 132s | And then through the frenzy of |
| 134s | Closed Beta, |
| 135s | watching a community |
| 136s | build around this thing |
| 137s | all over the world. |
| 138s | It became so much more than any of us |
| 141s | at Riot could have hoped for. |
| 142s | Not dreamed of... |
| 143s | we like dreaming around here. |
| 145s | But the response to VAL |
| 146s | has been humbling, to say the least. |
| 149s | The game has evolved, |
| 149s | the sport has evolved, |
| 151s | everything has evolved. |
| 152s | And that's because of you. |
| 154s | I know it's easy to say, |
| 155s | but it is absolutely true. |
| 157s | You've given us everything we need |
| 159s | to get to this point in our journey |
| 161s | this chapter in our story, |
| 163s | In VALORANT’s story. |
| 165s | We know not |
| 165s | every game gets this kind of moment |
| 167s | one where we can |
| 168s | look back and appreciate |
| 169s | where we've been, |
| 170s | but also be able to see |
| 171s | so clearly |
| 172s | all the excitement |
| 173s | that awaits us in the future. |
| 175s | So we'll celebrate that anniversary |
| 176s | together this year. |
| 177s | In the game, around the game. |
| 179s | There will for sure be gifts involved. |
| 182s | A few moments throughout the year |
| 183s | to show our gratitude, |
| 185s | and celebrate this |
| 185s | thing we built together. |
| 190s | Let's talk about the calendar. |
| 192s | So when we launched the game, |
| 193s | we obviously knew |
| 194s | it was going to be a live service game. |
| 196s | Meaning we'd release |
| 196s | content and updates |
| 197s | at some sort of regular cadence. |
| 199s | So, we put together Episodes |
| 201s | and Acts to give us a framework |
| 203s | for those releases. |
| 204s | It was a different time... |
| 205s | it was a simpler time... |
| 207s | before we had a whole esport |
| 208s | with its own |
| 209s | scheduling needs, |
| 210s | and a whole playerbase to serve |
| 211s | in the best ways we can. |
| 213s | We believe that |
| 214s | how you experience VALORANT |
| 215s | over the course of a year, matters. |
| 218s | Take Champs for example. |
| 219s | Champions was originally designed |
| 221s | to be the highest stakes tournament |
| 223s | to close out every year of the VCT. |
| 225s | And it is very much still just that, |
| 227s | just ask Kang-Kang and the EDG boys. |
| 230s | But it has evolved to be |
| 231s | so much more than that. |
| 232s | With agent reveals, |
| 234s | in-city activations, |
| 235s | fan fest, |
| 236s | amazing live performances, |
| 237s | the community coming together |
| 239s | in-person and online |
| 240s | to celebrate all things VAL. |
| 242s | That opening ceremony by the way. |
| 244s | It literally brought the entire 2024 |
| 247s | VALORANT journey to life in 12 minutes! |
| 250s | When I saw Mark Tuan, |
| 251s | Julie and Natty |
| 253s | stop in the middle of Superpower |
| 255s | and dance to the Champs |
| 256s | 24 gun skin finisher... |
| 258s | [Anna makes 2024 Champions Skin kill sounds] |
| 261s | Okay, that was terrible, |
| 262s | please just play the footage. |
| 268s | Right? |
| 269s | Potter, Boaster, Mixwell, Tarik, Cruz, |
| 272s | Kyedae, Tenz and so many more... |
| 274s | all making cameos. |
| 275s | Vyse, making her |
| 277s | debut on that huge screen. |
| 279s | Team Heretics and EDG, |
| 281s | taking their place center stage. |
| 283s | Game, sport, community, culture |
| 286s | all coming together in one perfect bite. |
| 290s | More of that please. |
| 291s | And you might be like, duh Anna, |
| 294s | just do more of that. |
| 295s | Well, sure. |
| 296s | But to do that, |
| 297s | we gotta adjust the calendar |
| 298s | a little bit. |
| 299s | Line some things up. |
| 301s | Create a new rhythm to the year. |
| 302s | So that's what we're going to do. |
| 304s | First, as we've mentioned before |
| 306s | we're moving Champs |
| 307s | further down the calendar... to October. |
| 309s | This will create much better |
| 311s | overall pacing for the year |
| 312s | and keep the VAL vibes going even longer. |
| 315s | Second, as we've been moving stuff |
| 317s | around to line it all up, |
| 318s | we realize that Episodes aren't |
| 320s | really doing much for us anymore. |
| 322s | And so in that spirit, |
| 323s | bye bye Episodes |
| 325s | hello Seasons! |
| 326s | And more specifically, |
| 327s | Season 2025. |
| 328s | Or for those of you |
| 330s | who like fewer syllables, |
| 331s | V25. |
| 333s | Acts will stay, |
| 334s | 6 per year, |
| 335s | with Acts mainly representing |
| 336s | meaningful periods of gameplay |
| 338s | like they do now. |
| 339s | Things like ranked, |
| 340s | Battle passes, Premier stages, |
| 342s | even map rotations. |
| 344s | All of this is about creating the space, |
| 347s | creating the opportunities, for really |
| 349s | really cool moments to happen. |
| 351s | V25. |
| 352s | 6 Acts. |
| 353s | One perfectly curated season |
| 355s | of VALORANT. |
| 359s | Okay Anna, that's cool and all |
| 360s | but what about the game? |
| 362s | Well, I'm glad you asked... |
| 363s | or I asked... |
| 364s | And while the VAL community |
| 365s | has grown, |
| 366s | so has our Dev Team. |
| 367s | They are an incredibly ambitious, |
| 370s | an incredibly committed, |
| 371s | set of developers. |
| 372s | And now that most of that expansion |
| 373s | work is behind us |
| 374s | they are also excited |
| 376s | to refocus |
| 377s | all of their energy on the things |
| 378s | we know matter the most to you. |
| 379s | That includes things |
| 380s | like Replays, |
| 381s | updated map rotations, |
| 383s | Ranked Rollbacks, |
| 384s | stupid cheaters. |
| 386s | Improving matchmaking, |
| 387s | dealing with toxicity, |
| 388s | fixing a bunch of bugs, both old ones |
| 390s | and fresh ones... |
| 391s | like that one Jett bug |
| 392s | that blinded her |
| 393s | and all her smokes. |
| 395s | All that good stuff. |
| 396s | We'll be sharing more with you |
| 397s | in a dev update in the next few days |
| 399s | and we have a bunch of other stuff |
| 400s | we're super excited for. |
| 401s | Just not quite ready to share yet. |
| 403s | Oh and yes, |
| 404s | we should probably mention |
| 405s | VAL mobile. |
| 406s | You may have seen |
| 407s | some of the playtest footage. |
| 408s | We have an amazing team |
| 409s | partnering with us on that work, |
| 411s | and we'll be sharing more |
| 412s | on that in the future. |
| 415s | So we talk a lot |
| 416s | about building a game |
| 417s | that's worthy of your time, |
| 419s | but we also think about our sport |
| 420s | the exact same way. |
| 422s | And 2025 |
| 423s | will be a continued commitment |
| 424s | to excellence, |
| 425s | investment, |
| 426s | and improvement in the VCT. |
| 428s | We aspire to build a world class sport |
| 431s | with a world class fan base. |
| 432s | We see you out there. |
| 434s | Your love of the sport. |
| 435s | We see it in your viewership, |
| 436s | we see it when you show up |
| 437s | to live events. |
| 438s | In your pick ‘ems. |
| 439s | In your memes. |
| 440s | In your engagement |
| 441s | with all that offseason drama, |
| 442s | I mean roster changes. |
| 444s | You yell at us about the VCT |
| 447s | the same way |
| 447s | you yell at us about the game |
| 449s | and we love it... |
| 450s | because it means you care about it. |
| 452s | And if you care about it... so do we. |
| 454s | You've shown us |
| 455s | that you want the sport |
| 456s | to continue to thrive. |
| 458s | And that gives us the courage |
| 459s | and the space |
| 460s | to keep investing |
| 460s | deeply into VAL esports. |
| 462s | Leo will have more details |
| 464s | to share in the next couple of days. |
| 465s | In the meantime, |
| 466s | get ready for an awesome |
| 468s | VCT season ahead. |
| 469s | And if you see me in Bangkok, |
| 471s | Toronto or Paris this year, |
| 473s | be sure to come by and say hi. |
| 477s | All right, before we wrap this up |
| 479s | let's talk story. |
| 481s | When we launched VAL, |
| 482s | we had the beginnings of a universe. |
| 483s | We had ideas |
| 485s | of where we could take it, |
| 486s | of where it could go next. |
| 487s | But it was important to us |
| 488s | that you wanted to know |
| 489s | more about it, too. |
| 491s | We've seen you engage with our world, |
| 492s | with our agents and their stories, |
| 494s | with your fan art and your theories |
| 496s | and your clips |
| 497s | and your |
| 497s | sometimes borderline |
| 499s | salacious fan fiction. |
| 500s | Mm hmm. We know about that. |
| 502s | We know about the edating, too. |
| 504s | Over the course of this next year, |
| 506s | and beyond, |
| 506s | you're going to see us experimenting |
| 507s | with even more ways |
| 509s | to bring the VALORANT universe to life. |
| 511s | There is a story |
| 512s | we want to tell this season. |
| 513s | A journey we'd like to take you on. |
| 515s | It'll show up in some familiar places, |
| 517s | like Agent voice lines, stuff |
| 519s | that shows up on the maps. |
| 520s | Different cinematics. |
| 521s | And it's gonna show up |
| 522s | in a bunch of different places, |
| 524s | ones we hope |
| 525s | you'll discover along the way. |
| 528s | The start of a year. |
| 529s | The start of a season. |
| 531s | And in many ways, |
| 532s | the start |
| 532s | of the next chapter of VALORANT. |
| 534s | It is impossible for us to express |
| 536s | how much gratitude we have |
| 537s | for this community. |
| 539s | You give us the opportunity |
| 540s | to work on this game. |
| 541s | Best jobs of our lives. |
| 543s | We had dreams |
| 544s | that VAL would become the game |
| 545s | that it is today, |
| 546s | and it is that game |
| 547s | because of our players. |
| 549s | VALORANT’s |
| 549s | 5th year is dedicated to all of you, |
| 552s | to your stories |
| 553s | and to celebrating this community. |
| 555s | Welcome to Season 2025. |
| 557s | It's going to be bananas. |
| 559s | In all the best ways. |
| 561s | Thanks y'all. |