Valorant leak reveals first look at rumored game launcher

While the hype continues to build for Riot’s tactical shooter, a leak has given Valorant fans a first look at the game’s potential client screen.

Valorant is poised to take the tactical shooter genre by storm, with many in the esports world hailing early previews of gameplay to be reminiscent of both Counter-Strike and Overwatch.

Popular streamers, such as Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys have even been vocal with how Riot’s venture into the FPS realm will be the final nail in Overwatch’s proverbial coffin.

Plenty of information has already reached the surface in regards to the game’s Agents, with Riot set to release more character teasers for fans to dissect each week.

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While Riot has been vocal about Valorant being a PC exclusive title, nothing has been released on whether their shooter would be available via third-party video game distribution service (such as Steam), or whether it would have its own independent client.

Now, however, it appears that Valorant will be launching directly via its own Riot Games client after a leaked screenshot of the game’s supposed launcher emerged on the Valorant subreddit and on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/Riot_Bruh/status/1239360953424252928

The launcher’s artwork features five Agents battling it out on Valorant’s near-future earth. In the foreground, Viper is taking cover while holding the Spike (the equivalent to a bomb in CS:GO).

In the background, both Phoenix and Jett are locking horns in a gunfight, while it appears that Cypher is using one of their abilities while behind cover. Behind Jett is what looks to be the outline of Sova, who is taking shots at Viper’s cover.

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All in all, the artwork paints a chaotic scene while showcasing Valorant’s vibrant color scheme and simplistic, lane-based maps. Topped with the Riot Games’ logo, the theme of the client screen also matches up to League of Legends’ launcher.

However, the most important takeaway message from the leaked launcher, is that it appears as if Riot will be hosting Valorant independently, meaning that they can govern updates without having to handle issues of third-party hosts.

Moreover, this will allow Riot to efficiently implement and tweak the abundance of anti-cheat measures they will have put in place to provide players with a level playing field.