Riot comments on requested Valorant Pick & Ban system, Deathmatch mode and more

Developer Riot Games continues to improve on the recently-released Valorant, an esports title which has taken the world by storm. While more features, and weapon skins, are being added to Valorant, you shouldn't hold your breath for a Pick & Ban system.

Valorant Pick & Ban system

Riot Games have shut down fan hopes of a Valorant Pick & Ban system. This news comes from a recent "Ask Valorant", where Riot Games answers some of the biggest questions fans have.

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Riot kicked off by saying they have considered a drafting phase for Agents. However, the developer decided against a Valorant Pick & Ban system. This is due to banning a certain Agent could very well demolish the entire strategy of a team.

Trevor Romleski, Senior Game Designer, explains Riot's reasoning: "We've considered a draft phase for agents, but the current thinking is that we would not have bans.

"For some more reasoning around bans: first, we expect teams to have set plays and strategies that will require very specific agents. Banning an agent would invalidate that entire strategy, and we don’t want to discourage practice."

"Second, bans often remove a players’ star agent and we want players who are exceptional at certain agents to be able to play them and show off their skills with them."

"Finally, because VALORANT doesn’t have hard counters in the form of agents (this isn’t our design philosophy), we think the game state is healthier if we’re held accountable to ensuring no agent or agent-facilitated strategy becomes so oppressive or unsolvable that a ban is the only choice."

Wouldn't it be great to ban the pesky Viper? (Picture: Riot Games)

Other information coming out of the Ask Valorant post includes Riot doesn't have plans to make the Valorant client a non-fullscreen application.

When asked if the developers plan to give different weapons different amounts aim punch, Riot said "not at the moment", but that "there’s an opportunity to lessen aim punch in extreme cases, for example, a long fire from a pistol or shotgun that is inflicting minimal damage with lots of fall off."

About a Valorant Deathmatch Mode

There's some great news for fans wanting a Deathmatch Mode in Valorant. Riot Games has confirmed a Deathmatch Mode will be coming to the game.

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While a release date for the Valorant Deathmatch Mode is currently unknown, Riot is working on it.

Jared Berbach, the Lead Game Modes Producer on Valorant, explains: "Deathmatch is absolutely a mode that is coming to VALORANT in the future.

"We don't have a timetable yet, but it's something where we're actively working on the underlying technology as well as designing, iterating, prototyping, and playtesting right now."

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