VALORANT has been one of the most popular competitive online first-person shooters on Windows PC for years, but few expected the game to make the jump to console. Riot Games surprised VALORANT players everywhere by announcing that its 5v5 hero shooter would be coming to Xbox and PlayStation, though, with a Limited Beta giving some players the chance to check it out early.
I'm already a part of that Limited Beta, and in my VALORANT for Xbox hands-on preview I praised Riot Games for crafting a thorough, thoughtfully designed port that feels native on a controller. If you're a VALORANT fan interested in playing on console or you're simply interested in checking out the game for the first time, here's everything you need to know about VALORANT for Xbox, including how to play, how it's different on console, and more.
What is VALORANT for Xbox?
Best answer: VALORANT for Xbox and PlayStation is the console port of the popular 5v5 hero shooter on Windows PC. It boasts a different control scheme and an optimized interface to help it feel more at home on a controller.
VALORANT for Xbox and PlayStation is the console port of the popular competitive online first-person shooter. VALORANT for Xbox was first announced as part of Summer Game Fest 2024, and the initial trailer you can watch above showed Riot Games' commitment to actually making VALORANT work great on console. I wrote about how I never expected VALORANT to come to consoles, but that I was very excited to play it anyways.
VALORANT for Xbox and PlayStation is essentially the same game that millions of Windows PC players enjoy, but with several key differences to make it work better on a controller and while displayed on a TV. Riot has committed to supporting VALORANT for console the exact same as on PC, but is still separating the two player bases to ensure a fair and level playing field. If Riot Games continues to deliver on its promises for simultaneous updates, full cross-save, and limited cross-play, VALORANT has every chance of becoming one of the best Xbox games.
VALORANT for console doesn't have a full release date yet, but players can participate in the Limited Beta to help Riot develop the game ahead of its release. You can keep reading for more information on the game and answers to all the most frequently asked questions.
How can I play the VALORANT for Xbox Limited Beta?
Best answer: You can sign up for the VALORANT for console Limited Beta at Beta.PlayValorant.com. Sign up is completely free (as is the game), and you'll need to sign-in with your Riot Account. If you're accepted, you'll need to choose if you want an Xbox or PlayStation code.
The VALORANT for console Limited Beta kicked off on June 14, 2024, and will continue indefinitely (basically, until Riot is satisfied that VALORANT is as good as possible on console and the beta is no longer needed). While this isn't an open beta that anyone can join whenever they want, Riot does need a lot of players to test the console port and submit feedback. As such, anyone can sign up to join the VALORANT Limited Beta, even if not everyone will be accepted.
If you want to try your luck, head to Beta.PlayValorant.com and sign-in with your Riot Account. Hit the "Register now" button and fill out the form, then sit tight and wait for an email. If you're accepted, you'll receive a unique link from Riot Games that brings you back to the website and lets you choose your preferred console platform (Xbox or PlayStation). Select, get your code, redeem it on your console, then download!
If you're accepted to the Limited Beta, all you have to do is play is redeem the code, launch the game, and sign in with the same Riot Account you used to register for the Limited Beta. If you use your Xbox Account to sign in to Riot Games on PC, anyways, this will happen automatically! Then you can play VALORANT for console with no playtime restrictions until the Limited Beta ends.
How is VALORANT for Xbox different than PC?
Best answer: VALORANT is mostly identical across console and PC, but there are some key differences. For one, the menus and interfaces have been fully reworked for VALORANT on consoles. Secondly, the controls have been tweaked and optimized for the controller, including adding a new "Focus Mode" for precise, low-sensitivity hip fire.
VALORANT is a very PC-centric shooter, so much so that very few people likely thought it would ever come to console. Because of this, Riot Games had to make some changes to make this competitive 5v5 shooter work on a controller. Fortunately, though, all the studio's optimizations and changes don't fundamentally change VALORANT as a game.
The content, game modes, and core gameplay loop are all identical across VALORANT on consoles and PC. Where the differences come in include the controls and the UI/UX. Riot Games tweaked the movement and gunplay mechanics of VALORANT to function on a controller, and added a new "Focus Mode" that acts like the aim-down-sights (ADS) of other popular console shooters but is actually imitating the precision of VALORANT's hip-firing on PC.
Activate Focus Mode, and the camera sensitivity is dialed down significantly without forcing you into the restrictive (slower firing) ADS mode. It lets you dial in your accuracy, and works well. Aside from that, all the menus and interfaces across the entire game have been redesigned to work entirely on a controller without relying on a frustrating cursor, with helpful and clearly legible control tags notating what you can do on any given screen.
In the latest 9.0 update, Riot Games made some improvements to the console version of VALORANT, including adding the ability to finetune the camera and aiming sensitivity across granular planes and perspectives. There are also more crosshair presets, and a new Voice Chat section to tailor your mic and voice options for console gaming.
Does VALORANT for Xbox support online cross-play?
Best answer: VALORANT for consoles does support online cross-play between console platforms, but there is no cross-play between console and PC players. The fundamental differences between input types gives PC players an inherent and massive advantage, so Riot Games is separating the player bases.
One of the biggest draws for any online multiplayer game is whether you can play with friends, and that's still true with VALORANT. When you start the game, you'll realize that all your existing friends on your Riot Account still appear, and you can also add your Xbox friends to the bunch. However, there is very deliberately no cross-play between VALORANT for consoles and VALORANT for Windows PC.
That's because, while VALORANT is essentially identical across platforms, the differences in control input would give PC players using a mouse and keyboard an overwhelming advantage in terms of accuracy and reaction time. As such, Riot Games is completely separating console and PC players, restricting cross-play to platforms of the same input type. That means Xbox and PlayStation players will be able to play VALORANT together, but PC players will only be able to play with other PC players.
I don't foresee this changing anytime soon, and I wouldn't want it to, either. Riot Games put in a lot of work to make VALORANT look and feel the same across console and PC, but made an executive decision to separate the two versions at their core by optimizing the console version for controller input. Cross-play for console players and no cross-play for PC players is the way to go.
Does VALORANT for Xbox support cross-save?
Best answer: Yes, even without console and PC cross-play, VALORANT for consoles fully supports cross-save and cross-progression through your Riot Account. VALORANT players won't lose any of their progress, cosmetics, or unlocks when making the jump between console and PC.
Riot Games could've chosen to make a totally different VALORANT for consoles, but instead chose to keep the game largely the same at its core and make the necessary changes for controller versus mouse and keyboard. The result doesn't change the fact that cross-play between console and PC players simply wouldn't work, but it does make it so that VALORANT players don't have to lose anything.
The moment you sign in to your Riot Account in VALORANT for consoles, you'll immediately have access to all of your account information, Battle Pass and challenges progression, cosmetic purchases, and unlocks. I didn't have to do anything to immediately have my entire VALORANT collection on Xbox, and it all functions exactly as I expected it to.
Unlock something or progress on console, and it'll also reflect on PC. It means no player will have to repurchase any skins or even the latest Battle Pass, as it all syncs across platforms with no issue. It's the best-case scenario for a console port, and it works seamlessly.
Can I play Ranked in VALORANT for Xbox?
Best answer: You can play Ranked in VALORANT for Xbox starting June 25, 2024, with the release of the VALORANT 9.0 update. This is still part of the Limited Beta, but console players can rise up to the rank of Radiant now.
Ranked wasn't present in VALORANT for Xbox and PlayStation when the Limited Beta first began, and that made sense for two reasons — ranked game modes rarely appear in limited-time betas, and it wouldn't make sense to start console players off toward the end of the existing ranked season. However, the release of the VALORANT 9.0 update bucked the former trend and fixed the latter problem.
With Episode 9 Act 1, VALORANT console players can now play in the full-fledged Ranked mode, testing their skills against other console players across a limited map pool (that does include the new Abyss map). Just like PC players, Ranked in VALORANT for console goes all the way up to Radiant, where only the best on controllers will be able to ascend.
For obvious reasons, Ranked won't be shared across PC and console versions, as VALORANT players on PC will have a far higher skill ceiling purely because of the input type. Balance changes and map additions also seem to be a little offset across PC and console platforms at the moment, such as the Iso Agent getting a nerf on PC before console.
Will VALORANT for Xbox get all the same updates?
Best answer: Yes, VALORANT on consoles will get all the same updates and content at the exact same time as the PC version, ensuring that cross-save and cross-progression always works — with minor exceptions.
Console ports of popular PC games often get updates less frequently or after a delay, but that won't be the case with VALORANT. Riot Games has committed to releasing every patch, content update, and season simultaneously across console and PC, ensuring that all VALORANT players are always getting the same experience. This protects cross-save and cross-progression, too, even if cross-play across console and PC still won't happen.
To recap: Riot Games made VALORANT the exact same on Windows PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, enabling full cross-platform syncing of all account progression, purchases, and unlocks. This will continue into the future thanks to all VALORANT updates coming to all platforms at the same time. However, necessary changes to interfaces and control input means that online cross-play is only active between VALORANT console players, and does not include PC players.
That being said, there will be instances where console and PC players are further separated. For example, the recent 9.0 update saw the Agent, Iso, get a nerf to his Double Tap ability on PC. However, console players will have to wait a little longer before this balance change comes to them. Hopefully, the end of the Limited Beta will remove any separation between platforms and ensure content and feature parity across Windows PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
When will VALORANT for Xbox fully release?
Best answer: There is no confirmed release date for VALORANT on consoles. It's still early days for the Limited Beta, and we expect that to end before Riot Games makes a definitive release date announcement. However, late 2024 or early 2025 seems very likely.
The VALORANT Limited Beta just started on June 14, 2024, and Riot Games has stated that the beta will include indefinitely until it's satisfied with the state of VALORANT on consoles. The flip side of that is we simply don't know when to expect the full public release of VALORANT for Xbox, and Riot isn't spilling the beans. It's safe to assume that the Limited Beta will be ended before an announcement happens.
We know that VALORANT for consoles will get the major 9.0.0 update at the same time as PC players with a new Battle Pass and lots of other changes and tweaks, but this is unlikely to be the full release of VALORANT for Xbox. If I had to speculate, I'd say a late 2024 or even early 2025 release feels likely, considering how polished VALORANT already feels on consoles. We'll update this section as soon as we learn more.
