Valorant is a fun and highly competitive game. Like CS GO, it’s gunplay has a high skill level possible. This means players that put in the work can get really good at the game, and there is a significant gap between the performance of the best and more average players. Games like this are typically played on higher end PCs, getting a great FPS and using specific Valorant settings to achieve that. However, there are a lot of players out there without access to that kind of machinery. It doesn’t feel like a mobile friendly game, but some things hidden anyway in its code point towards Valorant mobile.
Valorant esports are becoming increasingly popular, and mobile esports make up a huge portion of the esports market internationally. One of the most popular and lucrative esports out there is Honor of Kings, a mobile game with a massive player base that can get involved. Bigger developers are opening up to the possibility of recreating their high-skill games on a mobile device, such as League of Legends Wild Rift. So is Valorant going to be heading onto mobile devices too?
Valorant Mobile – Hidden in the Game’s Files
These days players can find just about any early content or scrapped feature that hasn’t been entirely removed from the game. Full catalogues exist of orphaned files and features from previous builds, offering a fascinating look into a game’s pre-release possabilities. For Valorant, there is one major thing hidden away in the files; Valorant Mobile.
The Valorant files contain a full UI for a mobile version of Valorant. This isn’t the kind of thing that would be left over from initial development, rather something kept in until the time is right. A mobile UI isn’t necessary unless the game is coming to new hardware. So while there’s no official word on Valorant mobile, the UI hidden away does make it look pretty likely in the long run. It would join Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Fortnite, and League of legends in extending its reach to mobile devices. PUBG has even seen a greater popularity on mobile, with a bigger international esports scene than on PC.
Valorant on mobile would definitely be a different experience. However, the landscape of esports is rapidly developing, and players need to look beyond the accepted shape of competitive gaming to see where it’s going.
Mobile Esports is an Expanding Market
When most people think of competitive gamers, they picture high-end PCs. In a lot of the world though, this isn’t the case. Esports games and tournaments are much more popular on mobile than desktop in quite a few regions. This is down to a number of factors. The most obvious is the barrier of entry with technology. Most people can easily get access to a mobile device to run a game, a whole lot more people than can get access to a pro gaming tier PC set-up.
Another factor in its favor is the market size. The ease of access means mobile esports are considerably bigger markets than those you’ll see with PC games. This is more down to the international possibilities that come with basing a game on mobile rather than PC. Many popular games in some regions rely on internet cafe culture for their player base, you don’t have this problem with a mobile game.
Mobile esports aren’t going to replace regular esports in the immediate future. However, games like LoL have recognized the opening for more competitive mobile gaming. Valorant mobile would be a reflection of this in the shooter space. It looks like the game will be coming to mobile devices in the future, and it is worth keeping an eye if the prize pools for Wild Rift or PUBG Mobile are anything to go by.