What We Know About Battle Pass and Skins In VALORANT
VALORANT is the upcoming title from Riot Games, a 5v5 tactical shooter, which has been confirmed as free-to-play. Eager fans have already begun to wonder about purchasing cosmetics for use in-game, and if micro-transactions will be included as in Fortnite and Apex Legends.
Riot Games has confirmed that only weapon skins and graffiti sprays will be purchasable, and there is no word on a rarity scale for cosmetics.
Battle Pass Confirmed
There is, however, a Battle Pass that will assumedly last for a pre-determined time or ‘season’ of VALORANT, giving players the opportunity to earn these items or purchase directly. There will not be loot boxes, and all future character skins, (despite there being no plans yet to include these), will be direct purchase, according to Valorant executive producer Anna Donlon.
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In an interview with Anna Donlon, she mentioned that the developers do plan to make weapon skins upgradeable, and at launch “will have a “couple of different progression systems.”
No Character Skins
Character skins will not be included with the game's release, as Riot is focused on competitive integrity. The thinking is that the player base will need time to get to know how each character looks, and therefore be instantly able to recognise them in a match from across the map. Being able to immediately purchase different colours or styles of outfits would make this identification more difficult for a player trying to learn the ins and outs of the game.
Donlon adds “I think [character skins] would have to be [done] in a way that there’s absolutely nothing to impact the gameplay. It’ll be narrow. I think there’s a way to do that. And those are things that we’re interested in exploring.”
Images via Riot Games