Valorant is transitioning to Unreal Engine 5, but don’t hold your breath for an immediate graphical leap with the shift. Instead, this is a “necessary” change that could lead to “new playable experiences” within the Valorant universe, according to Valorant studio head Anna Donlon at Riot.
Speaking at Unreal Fest Seattle 2024, Donlon came on stage to talk about Valorant and how integral Unreal Engine has been for the hero shooter. She mentioned that her team has “squeezed literally every ounce of everything we could get out of UE4, so now we make the move to UE5.” Donlon knows this is tough with a live-service game, “but it is necessary, for sure.”
From there, Donlon dialed back player expectations for a major visual overhaul with the move to Unreal Engine 5. But that didn’t stop the studio head from teasing an expansion of the Valorant universe.
“This upgrade is not going to significantly change how Val looks or performs, at least not right away,” Donlon said. “But here’s what I can say: There are many developers back at Riot who are incredibly grateful for what Unreal has allowed us to do for players. There are many developers back at Riot who are very excited about what UE5 can do for us in the future.
“Maybe, those devs are working on something I can’t talk about. Maybe those devs are thinking about ways to expand the Val universe into new playable experiences.”
Additionally, Donlon credited Unreal Engine with the ability to bring Valorant to consoles earlier this year. That’s seemingly been a success, too, with the hero shooter showing up as one of the most-played games on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
In August, Valorant introduced Vyse, a new agent that can make you use a worse gun. Most of her abilities revolve around stunning enemies. For more, check out GameSpot’s Valorant review.
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