Is Valorant on Xbox? | When is Valorant Coming to Console?
7 minutes
Last Updated: May 28, 2024
Playing Valorant on Xbox is something many members of the console community have been asking for. Riot Games took a major risk by releasing its version of a tactical hero shooter FPS title in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But all that free time indoors made the game more popular. And now, fans are clamoring for new features, like the complete Apex Legends cross platform integration. But can tactical FPS titles preserve competitive integrity on consoles?
Similar to the Rainbow Six Siege crossplay update, this is the main issue developers over at Riot Games will face. Making one of the best free crossplay games is no easy task. So, is Valorant coming to console? And when is Valorant coming to Xbox? Let’s find out.
Is Valorant on Xbox?
Unfortunately, as of December 2023, Valorant is still not on Xbox. Unlike other popular hero shooter titles like Overwatch and Apex Legends, Valorant is yet to make the jump to consoles.
Valorant Xbox Game Pass
The reason this entire topic is so prevalent these days is the fact that Riot Games and Microsoft have been partnered for more than a year. After being first announced in June 2022, December 12 2022 was the first time Riot Games’s titles were available on the Xbox Game Pass.
That’s where having the Valorant on Xbox idea was born. But unfortunately, at the moment, those titles are available only if you’re logged into your Xbox Game Pass through a
PC.
This includes all Riot Games titles such as League of Legends, Teamfights Tactics, Valorant, League of Runeterra, and the mobile version of League of Legends called Wild Rift. A collaboration of this scale is mutually beneficial for everyone involved.
Users get to enjoy a lot of in-game benefits if they obtain a Riot Games title through the Xbox Game Pass. And unlike the best paid crossplay games, all of Riot’s intellectual properties are free of charge!
Some of the benefits included are very monumental. For starters, once your Riot Games account is linked with your Xbox Game Pass, all 160+ League of Legends champions will be unlocked.
This is the case with Wild Rift and all Valorant agents as well. As someone who has spent days and hours playing to acquire enough in-game currency to unlock all these characters, this is a major bonus.
On top of this, linked accounts will have new characters unlocked on the first day of their release and will be able to level up and complete battle passes faster thanks to a 20% XP boost that is permanent.
Can You Play Valorant on Xbox?
Unfortunately, as of December 2023, you still can’t play Valorant on Xbox. Technically, you could do it, but only after Valorant on Xbox is released. And at the moment, that is not the case. Another issue stems from the fact that game mechanics work on different platforms.
Counter Strike has been a staple of the genre for more than 2 decades. And even Valve failed to make the transition to consoles. While climbing the Apex ranked system might be easier to replicate on a controller, that’s not necessarily the case with Valorant.
Having headshot accuracy on a moving target is a lot harder to do with a controller. Especially when viewing on 60 Hz displays. And considering many console players use their TV’s for couch gaming. Uff that successful transition to this FPS title might be rough.
Is Valorant Coming to Console?
If anything, Valorant coming to consoles has been the worst-kept secret over at Riot Games. Not only is its addition to the Xbox Game Pass a foreshadowing of what’s to come in business terms, but we also have some further proof.
The Valorant Leaks and News Twitter account, a very credible source within the Valorant community, revealed that major changes were taking place with Valorant patch 5.03 in August 2022.
Namely, new icons for PlayStation and Xbox controls were found in the game files following the update. This suggests that the developers are setting the groundwork for a console port of the title.
And they themselves have hinted at it for over the last 2 years. Executive Producer Anna Donlon sat down for an interview with Gamespot on the 4th of June 2021. There she hinted at “new opportunities for other platforms.”
In an older interview with the same publication, she also mentioned that they are currently “prototyping a VALORANT console port”, but did not expand further. Saying that “there’s a way to play this game and there’s a way to experience this game that we’re not entirely sure translates completely to console” opened the floodgates for speculation.
Despite this, her statements fall in line with other opinions shared by Riot employees, most notably Trevor Romleski, Valorant’s lead designer. During a Q&A session with Riot developers, Romleski confirmed that Riot is “open to exploring new opportunities for other platforms” and has been doing this since the PC’s closed beta took place a while ago.
When is Valorant Coming to Console?
So Valorant is definitely coming to console. But when will Valorant on Xbox be available? Nobody can say for certain. Riot principal engineer Felipe Romero sat down with Eurogamer and dove deeper into the topic in June of last year.
“Getting VALORANT running at 120Hz on next-gen consoles is an achievable goal.” While this is great to hear, it sets no immediate timetable. However, actions speak louder than words. And Riot’s recent job listing might indicate we’re closer to having Valorant on Xbox than previously thought.
In early July 2023, Forbes reported that Riot Games was looking for a former console FPS pro player to join their play-testing team. This suggests that Valorant must be coming to major consoles such as the Xbox Series X and PS5.
Riot Games has no other FPS title and looking for a play tester must mean that development is well underway for these new versions. Imagine learning how to play Neon on a controller!
To qualify for the associate console playtest analyst on Valorant role you must be someone who has previously played a console FPS at a professional level. You also need to be currently ranked Immortal or higher in Valorant. The person who gets the job will provide feedback on changes to the game and take part in playtests for unreleased content.
When is Valorant coming to Xbox?
For now, nobody knows when Valorant on Xbox will be a thing. If the logic serves, we should probably expect Valorant Mobile to arrive prior, since we’ve seen gameplay footage from much earlier.
Saying that we’ll play Valorant on Xbox in 2024 might be wishful thinking. But at the moment, it’s the best we can do. Valorant was made with Overwatch characters in mind. Also titles like Paladins and Rainbow Six Siege function in a similar fashion on Xbox, so maybe give them a shot while waiting for Valorant on Xbox to be released.
Is Valorant Coming to Mobile?
On the flip side, Valorant is guaranteed to be released on mobile in 2024. Maybe even earlier than that if we’re lucky. So far we know that both Android and iOS players will be able to enjoy it, with crossplay enabled.
With over 3 million players outside of China already pre registered, it’s guaranteed that the community is anxiously anticipating this release. Testing has been ongoing for more than 2 years, with multiple beta cycles happening in China.
By the looks of the testing footage released, the game mechanics will remain partially the same. Players will be able to strafe and move using the left side of their screen and swipe on the right side to change their view.
The buttons for crouching and jumping on the right side of the screen, as well as a button to access the agent’s utility. Another button on the top right of the screen is for shooting an opponent. Hopefully, this feature can be optimized because lefties will continue suffering.
VALORANT Mobile is set to have a completely different UI design, showing players in ranked replays how much elo they’ve earned with each kill or assist. That’s right, Valorant mobile will have its own replay system
It’s unclear if this long awaited feature will arrive on PC or console, but it should be there in due time. Apart from MVP cutscene animations for each agent and a more detailed rank-up animation, newer players should be excited to have the option to play against bots on every map.
