Hannan Mundia 
Riot Games’ tactical shooter Valorant is seemingly making its way to Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and the release date for a playtest could be right around the corner.
Riot Games announced in 2021 that Valorant will be coming to mobile platforms, stating that it was the first step in expanding the game’s universe. While the studio’s enduring MOBA, League of Legends, is growing through Netflix shows and spin-off games, Valorant has been treading water as a PC-exclusive shooter. That’s set to change soon.
Alongside the possibly imminent release of Valorant Mobile, Riot Games has made new job postings related to a console FPS game. Although Riot has not officially announced anything about a console release, leakers and data miners have stated that they know when the console playtest will start.
Is Valorant coming to consoles?
While Riot has not made an official announcement, job postings suggest that the studio might be working on bringing Valorant to consoles.
Riot Games’ career page has previously had listings related to a console version of Valorant, but the company has had an uptick in outreach of late. Surrounding the 2023 holiday season, the company ran a job listing for “Associate Console Playtest Analyst” that specifically listed the game
The job posting states that the studio is looking for an individual who has “professional experience in console FPS games,” is “currently ranked Radiant in Valorant,” and has a “high-level understanding of micro and macro decisions required to optimize Valorant gameplay.”
This suggests that Riot Games is gearing up for a console playtest for Valorant. Data miners surrounding the game suggest that this could be coming in the very near future.
Valorant console release date
Valorant will reportedly come to consoles in early 2024.
ValorantUpdated, a data miner specializing in Valorant-related news and leaks and was among the first to report on the upcoming Valorant agent, stated that the playtest “is going to start early next year.” In June 2023, they stated that Valorant will be released for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, And PS5, suggesting that Nintendo Switch users might not get to play Riot’s FPS game.
Riot Games has not made any announcements regarding console playtests for Valorant, beyond the job listings. The company has not stated anything about a console release beyond acknowledging plans to eventually do so in the months surrounding the game’s release.
It’s unknown what a Valorant playtest could entail, nor are there any details on things like cross-progress or crossplay. It’s also possible that the console release could be pruned down relative to the existing PC version. LoL’s mobile spin-off, League of Legends: Wild Rift, features a limited number of champions, skins, and features compared to the original game. Competing hero shooters like Apex Legends and Overwatch 2 are the same across consoles and PC, and boast crossplay and cross-progress. It’s unclear which direction Valorant will go in.
