Can Valorant Unseat the FPS Kings?

The League of Legends creators are taking on one of gaming’s biggest, most competitive genres

Riot games are best known for their flagship League of Legends franchise, which debuted way back in 2009. And although it isn’t their only major release (with the team having produced their take on the Auto-Battler genre in 2019, based on the Dota 2 mod called Auto Chess), the developer has just announced a brand new franchise which is a significant departure from its previous projects. Valorant is a free-to-play multiplayer first-person-shooter, and it marks the first time Riot has produced a game in the FPS genre.

It’s the story behind the announcement that’s interesting here. At Riot’s 10th anniversary event, the company announced various game projects they had been keeping under wraps. These announcements centered around League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics heading to mobile, as well as a new online card game, Legends of Runeterra.