Riot Games managed the build-up to the start of the Valorant beta exceptionally well. The developers gave fans a look at what a round in the game would be like, which sparked a lot of excitement. Then they fanned the fires by slowly showing off what some of the agents were capable of. On April 3, excitement reached a fanatical level when streamers who had access to a closed playtest unveiled the footage they had captured. That day also gave viewers their first chance to get beta access. Then on April 7, day one of the Valorant beta began.
It started slowly for the players eager to jump into the game. Connection issues prevented many from logging in for the first hour. But the Valorant team anticipated day one beta problems and worked quickly to fix the issue. Not that it stopped fans in the thousands from tuning in to watch streamers just trying to get into the game.
Limit break
The Valorant catchphrase, ‘Defy the Limits’, could not have been more appropriate for day one of the closed beta. On April 3, a million concurrent viewers tuned in to watch the game on Twitch. For day one of the closed beta, Valorant peaked at 1.7 million concurrent viewers. That surpasses the Fortnite World Cup while coming just a little short of the current record holder (and fellow Riot offspring), League of Legends.
At 1.7 million viewers, @PlayVALORANT has surpassed Fortnite's peak viewership at 1.69 million during the World Cup
The top two for peak viewership (as of right now):
1. League of Legends (1.74 million)
2. VALORANT (1.7 million)The King and the Queen pic.twitter.com/n2nHLAn9Bb
— The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) April 7, 2020
Roundhill Investments also noted that Twitch reached a record of its own, boasting four million concurrent viewers during day one of the beta. Valorant also ended April 7 as the third most searched topic on Google in the USA and UK.
Raze the roof
The first players who managed to get access to the Valorant beta were quick to discover the new tenth agent, Raze. She likes to blow things up. A lot. All four of her abilities pack a different kind of explosive punch.
The Valorant closed beta also revealed to viewers the in-game currency system, called Valorant Points. These will let players purchase characters, cosmetics, and more. Plus, when the main game launches, you’ll get a bonus for having bought Points during the beta.
That’s a wrap
The Valorant team ended day one by pausing beta access drops on Twitch. They were no doubt happy with how the first day on the job went, but there’s a lot of hard work ahead of them as they try and get as many people as possible into the beta. Drops will resume today, with several affiliated streamers suggesting it will begin again at 8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET. That’s not officially confirmed yet, so keep an eye on the Valorant Twitter account for confirmation.
Valorant Design Director Joe Ziegler left fans still desperate to get into the beta with this tweet of hope. Stay tuned.
To dispel confusion, there will be more drops continuing throughout the week (and likely beyond) Also the amount of drops we give is not a fixed amount, but rather flexible around how many people we are servicing at any given time against capacity.
— Ziegler (@RiotZiegler) April 7, 2020
If you still want to get into the Valorant beta, there are a few simple steps you need to complete first. But fear not, we’ve got you covered. Here’s all the information you need to stand a chance of getting access via a drop on Twitch.
