Riot Games has opened the doors to all would-be Valorant players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The tactical team-based shooter was previously in a closed beta on consoles prior to today, but now anybody can join.
Valorant on consoles is still technically considered to be a beta, so issues may pop up here or there. The game remains free-to-play and does feature some slight tweaks to the gameplay compared to the PC version.
Riot create something they call "Focus" for consoles. This is a new shooting mode that allows for hip-fire with the added bonus of reduced sensitivity.
On PC, Hip-Fire is the primary shooting mode, and Aim-Down-Sights is a secondary, supporting mode; the team experimented with multiple adaptations and gamepad sensitivities to try to accurately reproduce this on console, but never found a combination they were completely happy with. Hip-Fire didn’t feel the same, and the player didn’t have the same range of possibilities; the result was an overall dampened level of player expressiveness.
Enter Focus, a new shooting mode that functions much like Hip-Fire, but with reduced sensitivity. This lets players shoot from the hip whenever they need speed in moving both their camera and aim (think: peeking around corners and dodging) but with the ability to utilize Focus mode whenever they need to pull off a precise, calibrated headshot. Some of the Agent abilities have been adapted for the new input controls, and various tunings across the board have all contributed to the team’s number one priority: capturing the dynamic pacing and mechanically expressive feel of the original.
Enter Focus, a new shooting mode that functions much like Hip-Fire, but with reduced sensitivity. This lets players shoot from the hip whenever they need speed in moving both their camera and aim (think: peeking around corners and dodging) but with the ability to utilize Focus mode whenever they need to pull off a precise, calibrated headshot. Some of the Agent abilities have been adapted for the new input controls, and various tunings across the board have all contributed to the team’s number one priority: capturing the dynamic pacing and mechanically expressive feel of the original.
While there is no crossplay support between PC and consoles there is cross-progression between PC and consoles. This means your unlocks and inventory will carry over between platforms. There is also cross-progression for the game's Battle Pass.
This open beta is available to everyone on these consoles ahead of the full console launch. There does not seem to be any date set yet for that full console launch. Valorant is also available for Game Pass subscribers, with an added bonus of unlocking every released Agent for the game. Game Pass subscribers will also immediate get access to any new Agents released.
