Riot Announces New ‘Premier’ Valorant Mode

A new game mode is on the cards for the popular hero shooter Valorant. Riot Games has revealed that the title is about to get a brand new game mode, which seems to encourage the competitive nature of all players even further. Entitled “Premier,” the upcoming system will be getting a limited Alpha test next week, with players in Brazil being amongst the first invited to try out the new game mode.

Those in Brazil who are selected for the Alpha test will be able to try out some of Premier’s features, which include testing out team creation, including team logos and colours, server load, tournament play which includes a map pick-and-ban system, Premier Score and qualifying for the end-of-season tournament. In addition, Riot will be looking for feedback from testers on matchmaking and queue health throughout the Alpha, as well as general bugs and issues.

Premier is being launched as part of Riot’s more comprehensive vision for competitive gameplay in Valorant. A new update shared on the game’s official website goes into a bit more detail as to how the new mode will actually work. According to Jon Walker, one of the designers on Valorant‘s competitive team, Premier is intended as the pinnacle of competitive play. “We want to present an even higher goal beyond Radiant that provides the most competition-hungry players with a rewarding challenge beyond ranked,” he explains.

This new mode looks set to expand on the game’s existing ranked gameplay and will act as a bridge of sorts between everyday competitive players and those who play the game more professionally, as part of the VCT (Valorant Champions Tour) esports scene. It seems as though the rationale behind this is to provide regular players with an esports-style experience, although how exactly this will translate into reality we’ll just have to wait and see.

Premier will see players grouping into teams of five and participating in several pre-arranged matches in seasons, which will last roughly a few weeks. Players will have the chance to build a team roster, after which they’ll be placed in a division where they’ll play a mix of weekly matches and tournaments. The culmination of these efforts will be an end-of-season tournament, the winners of which will be crowned Division Champions.

The mode itself is described as being around “60%” completed, with a number of functions and options as yet incomplete. However, it is apparently ready for Alpha testing, which Riot is keen to do with a smaller group initially in order to “test and iterate faster” ahead of releasing the final version of this new competitive game mode.

As for when this mode will be rolled out to the rest of the world, we’ll have to wait and see. For the full breakdown of all things Premier, check out the latest update over on the Valorant website.

Valorant is available free-to-play now on PC.

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