Leaked footage of Valorant Mobile has hit the web, giving us our first glimpse at the tactical shooter in action. Best of all, it looks impressive too.
Even though developer Riot Games’ announced its plans for Valorant Mobile last summer, there has been little information on the state of the port since then. So this leak from the Chinese playtest is our first good look at how the hero shooter runs on mobile and what features the team's carried over from the PC version.
In a video by YouTuber Pritykin, you can see how the game is shaping up – which is to say, pretty good. In the video below you can see a player using the agent Phoenix and get a good look at how Valorant runs, how its graphics compare to the PC version, and how the UI has been adapted to fit a smaller mobile screen:
The biggest immediate change is that the match seems to be a best of 13, instead of the best of 25 on PC. That would indicate Valorant on mobile is catering to shorter play sessions. Though, bear in mind that this is an early playtest so many aspects of the game, such as the UI, will be subject to change.
Impressive... now do console
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Riot has form for making great mobile versions of its games – the team set the bar very high with League of Legends: Wild Rift. And this leak is an indication the team is aiming to replicate that quality for Valorant Mobile.
Valorant presents a particular challenge, as tactical shooters are so reliant on mouse and keyboard for precision aiming, something that's very hard to attain on phones. The upshot of that is it appears there's a longer time-to-kill on Valorant Mobile than on PC, which could lead to a different style of play. It is looking absolutely gorgeous, though, and it appears to be running smoothly, which is perhaps the most important thing to see in these early tests.
If Valorant on mobile proves to be a successful port, hopefully, the company will turn its gaze to console, where first-person shooters are a much easier translation.
Riot Games has remained coy on the prospect of bringing the game to console thus far. A job posting back in February (via ValorLeaks) suggests that a console version is on the table, however, no official announcement or indication of if it's actually coming has been made.
Valorant’s audience is massive, with the game regularly pulling in over 130,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch, and it being the third most watched game in the last year on the platform (according to Sullygnome). However, it could grow even further if it could get into the living rooms of more players. Here's hoping we see that come to pass in the not too distant future.
