Valorant has been one of the most popular online competitive first-person shooters on Windows PC for years, but few people expected the game to make the jump to console. Riot Games surprised Valorant players around the world by announcing that the 5v5 hero shooter is coming to Xbox and PlayStation, with a limited beta giving some players the chance to experience it early.
I'm already part of this limited beta, and in my hands-on preview of Valorant for Xbox, I praised Riot Games for creating a comprehensive, carefully crafted port that feels native to the console. If you're a Valorant fan interested in playing on console or just checking out the game for the first time, here's everything you need to know about Valorant for Xbox, including how to play, how it's different on console, and more Again.
Best answer: Valorant for Xbox and PlayStation is the console port of the popular 5v5 hero shooter on Windows PC. It features a different control scheme and an improved interface to help it feel more at home on the console.
Valorant for Xbox and PlayStation is the console port of the popular competitive online shooter. Valorant for Xbox was first announced as part of Summer Game Fest 2024, and the initial trailer you can watch above shows Riot Games' commitment to making Valorant run smoothly on console. I wrote about how I didn't expect Valorant to come to consoles, but I was still so excited to play it.
Valorant for Xbox and PlayStation is essentially the same game enjoyed by millions of players on Windows PC, but with several key differences to make it work better on console and when viewed on your TV. Riot has committed to supporting Valorant for console as it does on PC, but still separates the two player bases to ensure a fair and level playing field. If Riot Games continues to deliver on its promises of simultaneous updates, full cross-save, and limited cross-play, Valorant has every chance of becoming one of the best Xbox games.
Valorant for console doesn't yet have a full release date, but players can participate in the limited beta to help Riot develop the game before release. You can continue reading to get more information about the game and answers to all the most frequently asked questions.
Best answer: You can sign up for the Valorant console limited beta at Beta.PlayValorant.com. Registration is completely free (just like the game) and you will need to log in with your Riot account. If you are accepted, you will need to choose whether you want an Xbox or PlayStation code.
Valorant's limited console beta launched on June 14, 2024 and will continue indefinitely (basically, until Riot is convinced that Valorant is as good as it can be on console and the beta is no longer necessary). While this isn't an open beta that anyone can participate in whenever they want, Riot needs many players to test the console port and submit feedback. As such, anyone can sign up to join the Valorant limited beta, although not everyone is accepted.
If you want to try your luck, go to Beta.PlayValorant.com and log in with your Riot account. Click the “Register Now” button, fill out the form, then wait for the email. If you are accepted, you will receive a unique link from Riot Games that will take you back to the website and allow you to choose your preferred console platform (Xbox or PlayStation). Select, get your code, use it on your console and download!
If you're accepted into the Limited Beta, all you have to do to play is redeem the code, launch the game, and log in with the same Riot account you used to sign up for the Beta limited. If you use your Xbox account to sign in to Riot Games on PC, it will happen automatically anyway! After that, you will be able to play Valorant for console without any game time restrictions until the limited trial ends.
Best answer: Valorant gameplay is mostly identical on console and PC, but there are a few key differences. First, the menus and interfaces have been completely reworked for Valorant on consoles. Second, the controls have been tweaked and improved for the console, including the addition of a new “Focus Mode” for precise, low-sensitivity shooting.
Valorant is such a PC-centric shooter that very few people probably thought it would come to console. Because of this, Riot Games had to make some changes to make this competitive 5v5 shooter work on console. But fortunately, all the improvements and changes made by the studio do not fundamentally change the gameplay of Valorant.
The content, game modes, and core gameplay loop are all the same in Valorant on consoles and PC. Where the differences come into play are controls and UI/UX. Riot Games has tweaked Valorant's movement and gunplay mechanics to work on console, adding a new "focus mode" that works like other games' Aim Down Aim (ADS). popular shooting on consoles, but actually mimics the hip precision of Valorant. - Shooting on PC.
Enable focus mode and the camera's sensitivity will be significantly reduced without forcing you to switch to restricted (slower) aiming mode. This allows you to connect accurately and it works well. Aside from that, all of the game's menus and interfaces have been redesigned to work fully on the controller without relying on a frustrating cursor, with helpful, clearly readable control markers indicating what you can do on any screen given.
Best answer: Valorant for consoles supports online cross-play between console platforms, but no cross-play between console and PC players. The fundamental differences between input types give PC players an inherent and huge advantage, which is why Riot Games strives to separate player bases.
One of the biggest draws of any online multiplayer game is whether you can play with friends, and that continues to be true with Valorant. When you start the game, you will realize that all your current friends on your Riot account still appear and you can also add your Xbox friends to the party. However, there is intentionally no crossplay between Valorant for consoles and Valorant for Windows PC.
Indeed, although Valorant is essentially identical across all platforms, the differences in control inputs would give PC players using a mouse and keyboard a significant advantage in accuracy and reaction time. As such, Riot Games completely separates console and PC players, limiting cross-play across platforms with the same input type. This means that Xbox and PlayStation players will be able to play Valorant together, but PC players will only be able to play with other PC players.
I don’t expect that to change anytime soon, nor do I want it to change. Riot Games put a lot of effort into making Valorant look the same on console and PC, but made the executive decision to separate the two versions at their core by optimizing the console version for console entry. Cross-play for console players and not cross-play for PC players is the ideal solution.
Best answer: Yes, even without console-PC crossplay, Valorant for consoles fully supports cross-saving and cross-progression through your Riot account. Valorant players will not lose any of their progress, cosmetics, or unlocks when transitioning between console and PC.
Riot Games could have chosen to make a completely different Valorant game for consoles, but instead they chose to keep the game largely the same and make necessary changes for console versus mouse and keyboard. The result doesn't change the fact that cross-play between console and PC players simply won't work, but it does ensure that Valorant players have nothing to lose.
As soon as you log into your Riot account in Valorant for consoles, you will instantly have access to all your account information, Battle Pass, challenge progress, cosmetic purchases, and unlocks. I didn't have to do anything to get my entire Valorant collection on Xbox, and everything worked exactly as I expected.
Open something or progress on console, and it will reflect on PC as well. This means that no player will need to repurchase skins or even the latest version of the Battle Pass, as they all sync across platforms without any issues. This is the best-case scenario for a console port, and it works without issue.
Best answer: Yes, Valorant on consoles will receive the same updates and content at exactly the same time as the PC version, ensuring that cross-save and cross-progression still work.
Console ports of popular PC games often receive updates less frequently or after a delay, but that won't be the case with Valorant. Riot Games is committed to releasing every patch, content, and season update to console and PC simultaneously, ensuring that all Valorant players always have the same experience. This also protects cross-save and cross-progression, even if cross-play on console and PC doesn't happen.
To recap: Riot Games has made Valorant exactly the same across Windows PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, allowing for full cross-platform synchronization of account progress, purchases, and unlocks. This will continue in the future with all Valorant updates arriving on all platforms at the same time. However, necessary changes to interfaces and control inputs mean that online cross-play is only active between Valorant console players, excluding PC players.
Best answer: There is no confirmed release date for Valorant on consoles. It's still early for the limited beta, and we expect it to end before Riot Games announces a definitive release date. However, late 2024 or early 2025 seems very likely.
The Valorant limited beta just started on June 14, 2024, and Riot Games has stated that the beta will continue indefinitely until they are happy with the state of Valorant on consoles. The flip side is that we simply don't know when to expect the full public release of Valorant for Xbox, and Riot isn't revealing details. It's reasonable to assume that the limited beta will end before the announcement is made.
We know that Valorant for consoles will receive the major update 9.0.0 at the same time as PC players will receive a new Battle Pass and several other changes and adjustments, but it is unlikely that this will be the full version of Valorant for Xbox. If I had to guess, I'd say a release would likely happen in late 2024 or even early 2025, considering how finished Valorant is on consoles. We will update this section as soon as we know more.