Overview of how Valorant devs were able to launch on console with the same fidelity of PCs utilizing the many versions of Unreal Engine, and teasing new playable options.
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00:00Hey, everyone. I'm Anna.
00:06I head up the Valorant studio at Riot.
00:08I want to thank our friends at Epic for inviting me here today.
00:10This is bananas.
00:12So most of you have no idea who I am,
00:15but if you did, you'd know that I can really get up
00:18all in my head on things.
00:19I like to be prepared and thoughtful and researched.
00:23And so when thinking about what to talk about today,
00:25I went back and I looked at a bunch of previous
00:28Unreal Fest keynote segments.
00:30And I was like, oh, crap.
00:33Because segment after segment featured these
00:35exceptionally beautiful games.
00:37Graphics forward games.
00:39Games that took advantage of some of Unreal's
00:42very best features and technology.
00:44This is Valorant.
00:46And while I imagine folks would have many positive things
00:49to say about the game,
00:50graphics forward is likely not one of them.
00:53And yet without Unreal,
00:55I don't think this game would have been possible.
00:58Our story is not one of day-night cycles
01:01or sprawling worlds,
01:03but it is one of extreme player orientation.
01:06The building of a global community
01:08and a story where our devs get to be the heroes.
01:12Our goal with Valorant was to create a world-class
01:145v5 tactical shooter.
01:16Hyper competitive, super precise,
01:19where the addition of abilities create depth and strategy
01:22without undermining the gameplay.
01:24We wanted our game to be truly global.
01:26One that not only reflects
01:28and celebrates our global communities,
01:29but also supports them by running on machine specs
01:33that sometimes feel downright uncomfortable.
01:36And we wanted no one, no one to feel like they were ever
01:40at a competitive disadvantage.
01:41Competitive integrity is our number one tenant on Val.
01:45So our devs needed to focus on gameplay feel,
01:48anti-cheat, server latency,
01:50combating peeker's advantage, and so much more.
01:53What Unreal has brought to Riot and to Valorant
01:55is the very strongest of foundations.
01:57Adaptability, flexibility, putting our devs in the position
02:01to focus on major innovations
02:03because instead of worrying about the engine,
02:05they're worrying about the things
02:06that matter most to our players.
02:08I'll give you an example, recent example,
02:10of what I'm talking about.
02:11So when we set out to make Val,
02:13we knew in our hearts and in our minds and in our bones
02:17that this game would be PC first in every single way.
02:21FPS on console, sure.
02:24But a tactical shooter on console,
02:26especially one that's trying to deliver
02:28the gameplay experience that we are,
02:30we really couldn't wrap our heads around it.
02:32And so upon launching the game, to our delight,
02:34we discovered lots of folks enjoy Valorant.
02:38Our player community was global.
02:40It was diverse, young, very demanding.
02:43And to be honest, larger than we were expecting.
02:46So our first couple of years were laser focused
02:49on all of those folks,
02:50making sure they felt fully supported.
02:53And then we started seeing the requests coming in.
02:56Val on console, when?
02:59And so console became harder and harder
03:01to ignore as an opportunity.
03:03Should we do it?
03:04Probably.
03:05Could we do it?
03:06That was the big question.
03:08I told the team and the community and my stakeholders
03:11that we would give it a shot,
03:12but that if we had to compromise on what makes Val, Val,
03:16precise gunplay, strategy, high stakes,
03:18competitive integrity, then it wasn't worth doing.
03:21Other goals.
03:22This would not be a traditional port.
03:24Console players needed to believe
03:26that this game was built with their needs in mind.
03:28We didn't want to build an entirely new team.
03:30We wanted to learn things very quickly.
03:33And if we were going to go to market,
03:36I kind of wanted to get there as soon as we could.
03:37So fun.
03:39Can you imagine us being able to do any of that
03:42if we had to port over a PC only proprietary engine?
03:45Can you imagine us being able to do any of that
03:47if Unreal didn't already have in built-in platform support?
03:51Unreal knows these platforms.
03:53It gives us integrations with console SDKs,
03:55rendering implementations, platform native input handling.
03:58The engine is already optimized
04:00for all the different platforms
04:01so we could focus on optimizing the game experience.
04:04And look, I know for most of you,
04:06that is a no-brainer and table stakes.
04:09But for Riot, we had never launched a live service game
04:13on console before, ever.
04:16So for us, having this capability
04:18immediately available to us was actually a game changer
04:21and a huge part of our decision to move forward.
04:23Once again, our devs could be heroes,
04:26focused entirely on what sets Val apart
04:28from other games in the space.
04:30Features like Focus Mode that helped us deliver
04:32true Valorant gameplay on controller
04:34without sacrificing what makes tap shooters great to begin with.
04:38Flexibility, adaptability, rock-solid foundation,
04:42capabilities that allowed us to learn a ton of things so fast
04:46and get to market very quickly.
04:47Millions of players are playing Val on console now,
04:50and we owe a huge part of that to our relationship with Unreal.
04:54So Valorant has been on a rocket ship since launch.
04:57It's actually incredibly humbling.
05:00Here we are just four years in,
05:02played by over 35 million players a month
05:05all over the world on all manner of PCs
05:07and now on PlayStation and Xbox,
05:09bringing major esports tournaments
05:11to all corners of the world
05:13and doing awesome music collaborations
05:14with folks like Zedd and Gravis and so many more.
05:17We have a team stacked with incredible world-class developers,
05:22Unreal developers, where the engine provides them
05:24the foundation required to make the very best experiences.
05:28And our teams at Riot are working so hard
05:31to make Valorant more than just a game,
05:33but a meaningful part of players' lives for decades to come.
05:37As my friend Ben would say,
05:38it's really exciting stuff, y'all.
05:42So look, I know that there was absolutely no Lumen shown
05:46in this particular presentation.
05:49No nanites, no animation motion matching.
05:52I could not rattle off a list of UE5 features
05:54that are transforming Val as we know it.
05:57Wait, actually, can anyone guess
05:59what version of Unreal Val is on right now?
06:024.27.
06:04That's right.
06:05We have squeezed literally every ounce of everything
06:08we could get out of UE4.
06:10So now we make the move to UE5.
06:12And that is not an easy feat when your game
06:14is a live service game, but it is necessary for sure.
06:17And this upgrade is not going to significantly change
06:20how Val looks or performs, at least not right away.
06:23But here's what I can say.
06:25There are many developers back at Riot
06:27who are incredibly grateful
06:29for what Unreal has allowed us to do for players.
06:32And there are many developers back at Riot
06:34who are very excited about what UE5
06:37can do for us in the future.
06:39Maybe those devs are working on something I can't talk about.
06:43Maybe those devs are thinking about ways
06:45to expand the Val universe into new playable experiences.
06:49Maybe we feel very fortunate
06:51to have everything UE5 can offer at our disposal.
06:54And maybe we are stoked that because we chose Unreal for Val,
06:57we can move our devs around and our tech around
07:00and our everything around really,
07:02really easily to explore those totally hypothetical
07:06new playable experiences.
07:08So maybe you'll see me or someone from my team
07:10up here in the future
07:12with a very different sort of presentation.
07:14But whatever comes next,
07:15you can count on us to keep working
07:17to deliver the best possible player experiences
07:19to our players.
07:20We know Epic and Unreal share our goals and excitement
07:22for the future of gaming, so really,
07:24our relationship is just getting started.
07:27I appreciate all of you.
07:28Thank you for the time, having an amazing Unreal Fest.
07:30I'll see you all later.