Riot announces mobile version of Valorant and 14m PC player numbers as game celebrates first anniversary, Shroud and Ninja share their views on its longevity

valorant year one numbers mobile

Valorant is one year old today and Riot Games is celebrating by announcing a mobile version of the shooter in the works.

Riot also announced that an average of more than 14m PC players from around the world log on each month to play Valorant, with half a billion games played so far since Valorant launched on June 2nd 2021.

Valorant Mobile doesn’t have a release date just yet, but it follows in the footsteps of other top competitive shooters that have made their way to mobile, such as PUBG and Fortnite. And its announcement should come as no surprise given League of Legends’ successful move to mobile late last year in Wild Rift.

In honour of Valorant’s year-one milestone, Riot will host a month-long celebration for players and fans, gifting members of the community in-game rewards and initiatives. Throughout the month of June, the Valorant community will receive commemorative digital swag, including a redeemable player card and a free event pass, to mark the occasion. 

Valorant has also made waves in esports over the past year, with a host of UK talent rising up in the scene. Riot announced the Valorant Champions Tour in late 2020, a year-long global esports circuit featuring three levels of competition: Challengers, Masters, and Champions.

The second major event of the 2021 Champions Tour and Valorant’s first international tournament, VCT: Masters Stage 2, was won by Sentinels this past week in Reykjavík, Iceland. According to initial reports, the final match between Sentinels and Fnatic garnered more than 1m concurrent viewers, and an average minute audience of over 800,000. 

In terms of potential Valorant Mobile esports plans, Esports News UK reached out to a Riot spokesperson about this and no details were available at this time.

“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 (tactical) shooter,” said Anna Donlon, executive producer of Valorant at Riot Games.

“To see our growing player community recognise 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.” 

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

Shroud

Twitch also thanked the content creators involved in championing Valorant.

Michael Aragon, chief content officer at Twitch, added: “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 are excited to see how the next year unfolds.”

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

Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins said: “With how often Riot is updating the game and adding new content, that’s all any game lover could ask for. Valorant will definitely continue to grow and keep their audience.”

Related article: Why UK talent is shining in Valorant compared to CSGO – Fnatic head coach mini explains

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