“Patch 11.08 was a mistake”: VALORANT esports loses its unique selling point

After the end of the VALORANT Champions Paris in September of last year, developer Riot Games dropped one of the most disturbing updates in the game’s history. Patch 11.08 significantly reduced agent usage in an effort to “find a healthy balance between gunplay and abilities.”

Seven months later, THE VALORANT players – both on the casual and competitive side of the consumer base – are still feeling the effects of Patch 11.08. Most notably, the sentinel’s heavy sensors have led to a fast-paced, dual meta that rewards solid mini-game, aka aiming and teamwork above all else.

In an effort to reduce the dominance of the ongoing roster, Riot Games has begun targeting this agent class with sensors, starting with Yoru and Waylay. Although these changes seem to moderate the previous power gap between stakeholders and other categories of agents, they have also brought new concerns.

“If Riot is going to go this route, you might as well bring the bars to reveal and just make it CS with different colors, like real. And then, it might be a better game,” said caster. William “Chobra” Cho on the latest episode of VALORANT’s chat show Plat Chat. “Because the truth, right now, is somewhere in the middle. It’s not CS, and it’s not a shooter.”

So, does VALORANT esports have much in common with Counter-Strike, its biggest competitor in the FPS genre? And is Riot Games undermining its brand’s unique selling point?

Ahead of the official release of VALORANT in 2020, Riot Games is introducing the worldwide FPS fandom to the upcoming addition to the game genre. Project A was advertised as a strategic shooter with a unique twist.

However, the game developer made another promise at the time: “To be clear, in Project A, shooting is important. You don’t kill with skills. Skills create smart opportunities to take the right shot. Characters have skills that increase their gun, instead of fighting directly with their skills.”

Captivated VALORANT fans will recognize this statement because it was later turned into a meme to mock (and criticize) the introduction of lethal agent abilities, such as Raze’s Showstopper, and the large number of uses that seem to interfere with shooting.

Riot Games’ response to these concerns from other parts of the VALORANT community was to please everyone, but especially the guards and starters who rely heavily on their abilities to play and support their team.

Interestingly, resource clutter has rarely been criticized on the sports side of the VALORANT community. In fact, the meta during the Paris championships last year is considered one of the best moments in the life of the title, as it made different types of songs work.

“It was the most open game I think the game has ever been, and I think that’s where it gets fun,” the talent shared on air. I “Evilcat” Wermcrantz on Plat Chat when discussing the latest Patch 12.05. “I don’t think it’s a lot of fun when everyone plays the same thing. Doubles have their highlights. But watching double-duelist versus double-duelist means you don’t get that sameness of style at least as often.”

Other guests on the episode agreed with this sentiment, including the VALORANT host Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson it adds that the double-duelist game can feel one-sided.

“The way you have to play defense feels very predictable,” he explained. “Like the teams we’ve seen play those types of comps [Masters] Santiago was running at you most of the time.

“And it’s hard not to rush people because you don’t have a lot of information, you have to look for details, and you don’t have escape mechanics. […] It reduces the number of tools you have to work with in defense.”

Considering these incredibly different views of the VALORANT metas, there seems to be a disconnect between the esports gaming scene and its actual player base. Indeed, VALORANT esports represents little of the gaming experience of the casual or competitive player base. And it wasn’t for long. To give just one example, highly placed agents like Clove and Reyna are almost never played by professional teams.

Riot Games’ heeding of the consumer VALORANT’s medium voice with waves of material may destroy the tactical depth of the professional VALORANT. But the developer’s latest direction may also widen the divide between the player base and pro play.

Let’s examine why.

Alongside Patch 11.08’s big improvements came ability effects and cooldown fixes for many agents. For example, Brimstone’s, KAY/O’s, and Reyna’s Stim effects have been combined while all starters get the same cooldown increase with their retargeting abilities.

In addition, these changes make it easier for players to adapt to different agents and build muscle memory. However, they also reduce the uniqueness and depth of creativity in VALORANT’s agent pool – another step towards a more casual gameplay experience and away from a high-level ceiling game that bridges the gap between a tactical FPS and a superhero shooter.

Furthermore, without forced reinforcements, ability effects and cooldowns can be adjusted to balance individual agents instead of pissing everyone off.

But VALORANT’s latest trend of simplification goes further than Patch 11.08. It also affects the composition of the agent. Miks, the game’s new agent, was released less than a month ago as a controller with music and sound themes. And his signature skill, smoking, works almost as well as Clove smoking. They are point and click slots with no extra mechanics.

In contrast, all the controllers before Clove and Miks had a different way of putting smoke to go with their agent themes and backstories. With the exception of Brimstone, however, their kits required practice to be used successfully.

“It seems clear to me that Riot, three, four years ago, whenever they were designing Clove and Miks, had the idea that ‘our next agents should be easy enough for people to play them at level,'” explains analyst Thinking Man’s Valorant in a recent YouTube video. “And I think that explains why both Clove and Miks, maybe, have easy stuff.”

“They could have ended up with something really cool, something that made you think differently about how the game was going to be played. And instead, we just got a stripped-down, basic version of Barry,” he added later.

Such agents do two things. First, it also creates more homogenization within the game. Second, it creates more agents to be played without pro play. The gap between what you experience when playing a game and what you see when you watch VALORANT esports is widening.

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a veteran VALORANT player. We started our VALORANT journey five years ago and fell in love with Cypher’s ratty playstyle. We went online to learn the ins and outs of this agent, the hidden mechanics and systems, and the various settings for each map. Our efforts bear fruit in the game. We cover sites with our service and make pieces based on our killing spree.

But we want to be even better. Therefore, we learn from the best. We tune in to professional players’ streams, learn their setups, and watch them play our favorite agent against other incredibly talented players.

Then, our chief trembles. No more ridiculous setups, no more kill moves, no more Cypher in the pro game. This was the end of the geeky one-tricks of the past months. For example, Cypher, Vyse, Breach, and Deadlock have all been affected to the point that their gameplay has changed drastically, and their in-game selection rates have dropped.

It’s incredibly frustrating. Also, it makes it difficult to sell the game and its esports space to competing game buyers. Why should they take VALORANT, be an agent or an agent class for hundreds of hours, just to take it all in one piece, only to see that there is no high level player to look to as the agent or class is no longer working.

“My biggest disappointment is that this feels like Riot is afraid to go back to the util-heavy meta again instead of creating those individual moments. […] to allow them to feel as if they are strong in their identity,” highlighted Mimi.” “The language they use a lot is the ‘power fantasy’ of playing an agent. I think that’s dead right now, especially for guards.”

The tactical possibilities provided by a diverse and flavorful agent pool are the main difference between VALORANT and its tactical shooter cousin, Counter-Strike. Therefore, the game has grown closer to its rival with its recent pivot away from action and gunplay.

“Gunplay has always been the best way to play. But now, they’ve never given a reason to try another way,” commented VALORANT talent on air, Brennon “Bren” Hookon Plat Chat.

On the other hand, all episodes still have the potential to change the way back to player agency and agent diversity. For example, Yoru sensors can make guards more active or needed in a pro game to gather information safely across the map.

The main problems right now seem to be standing in esports and player frustration. Riot Games’ current vision doesn’t commit to a tactical FPS or hero shooter, resulting in a flat viewing and playing experience.

“Patch 11.08 was a mistake,” concluded Sideshow in Plat Chat. “Like, yeah, maybe they made gunplay more important than before. In terms of agent balance, it clearly failed, in my opinion.

“And I think we’re going to spend this next year, maybe even more, correcting the mistakes they made in the past.”