Valorant, one of the most popular games in the world since its release as a beta launch in 2020 by Riot Games. This free-to-play game widely grew in popularity especially since it was during the Covid-19 quarantine. According to Active Player IO, 700,000 people play this game daily. In this game combines both precise gunplay and each player having their own unique roles and ability. This game, much like its counterpart, CSGO, is primarily focused on its shooting mechanics.
However, one of the issues within the community is the use of overcharging skins. Every season (Act) Riot releases new skins that are colorful and eye-appealing to its players, making the community want to buy these cosmetics. One of the skin bundles that was released in 2022, Champions Skin Bundle, has created a revenue of $18.72 million (VLR.gg): that just makes up for one bundle. Since its release, Riot has released over 70 bundles since its release, each skins costing about $10. While this monopoly is being used on its players, the community have found that skins overall has helped their gameplay due to its aesthetic appeal.
One of the struggles that players have been facing is the constant change in the performance of the characters. The characters, also known as agents, have different roles Duelists, Sentinels, Initiator, and Controllers each made for different playstyles for the players. Throughout the span of the game since its release, more agents have been released, hence changes in players strategies have been made – making different characters much more powerful than others. This imbalance causes an unfair gameplay which has been a reoccurring issue within the community.
This attractiveness of this game has brought a lot of popularity within its player base due to its unique gameplay and cosmetics. However, the imbalance of its agents must be resolved in order for this game to stay popular in the long run.
