2021 was an exceptional year for Valorant. From being called a CS knock-off to becoming a household name, Valorant has had quite the journey. It had the largest conquering and growing player base among FPS titles, with other shooters not even coming close. Consequently, the game exponentially doubled its viewership numbers on Twitch. In addition, the VCTs, Valorant’s competitive landscape, was a huge success.
Valorant also had a huge year, in terms of in-game content. We got to see 4 new agents, Yoru, Astra, KAY/O, and Chamber, accompanied by 2 new maps, Breeze and Fracture. Not to forget, the tons of exciting skin bundles. Riot Developers posted the “State of Agents” blog for December 2021, talking about the same as well as discussing the future of the game in 2022.
Firstly they discussed how well three of the last agents have panned out into the game’s META, with Astra, KAY/O, and Chamber earning a regular spot in players’ rooster across several maps. Some players have even evolved their playstyle to incorporate the effectiveness of these agents. They also admitted the need for a Yoru rework, as he failed to impress like the others.
What’s Coming to Valorant in 2022?
Riot Devs confirmed the need for agent balancing since it is something we have seen very little of for the past few months. And it looks like that is about to change, as they quoted
“Since Patch 3.0, we know things on the Agent balance side have been lighter than our previous Episodes, and going into 2022, we’re looking to change that.”
So 2022 will be a rollercoaster ride for a lot of players since apart from a Yoru buff rework, we have no idea which agents will be up a huge upset or a sweet surprise. The Devs mentioned, ” Throughout 2022 you should see a bigger focus on Agent balance. Y’all should be seeing updates to various Agents across the board throughout the first six months of the year, additionally, we will be focusing more on addressing emergent balance issues faster than we did in 2021.”
Agent 18 Teaser
The Devs teased a new agent with subtle hints, “Kicking off next year is an Agent who can outpace the rest of the roster, shocking the competition, and sliding straight into the fight.” They also quoted “Maraming Salamat!”, which means Thank you very much in Filipino, hinting towards the new agent being from the Philippines.
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