Valorant beta to soon add Competitive mode, with eight ranks and no decay

By Aaron Mamiit Published April 26, 2020

Riot Games will soon add competitive play to the ongoing Valorant closed beta, with the developer explaining how the long-awaited mode will work for the upcoming multiplayer shooter.

Valorant‘s Competitive mode will be rolled out after patch 0.49, starting with North America and Europe, according to a post on the game’s official website.

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Riot Games revealed that Valorant players will first need to complete 20 matches in Unrated mode in order to unlock Competitive mode, which will feature eight ranks. The first seven ranks, namely Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Immortal, will each have three tiers, while the eighth and topmost rank, aptly named Valorant, will only have one tier.

Winning games will be the most important factor in gaining ranks, though personal performance in matches will also be taken into account. On the other hand, losing games and performing poorly will reduce a player’s rank. Competitive mode will also consider how decisively teams win or lose, which gives players the added incentive of stretching their lead further if they are winning, as well as to try their best to close the gap, at the very least, if they are losing.

Competitive mode allows players to queue up for matches with friends, but all five players in the team should be within two ranks of each other.

Players who find themselves out of time to play Competitive mode after 14 days will render their account inactive and have their ranks hidden. However, upon their return their ranks will again be displayed. There will be no artificial decay on ranks though, so players are free to take breaks from competitive play as often and as long as they want.

Valorant closed beta

It is rare to see a developer releasing patches for a closed beta, but it has so far helped Riot Games prepare the multiplayer shooter for its summer launch. For Competitive mode, it may be disabled for short periods of time throughout the closed beta as Riot Games refines it, according to player feedback.

While in closed beta, Riot Games has offered up to $100,000 for security researchers to help find holes in Vanguard, Valorant‘s anti-cheat system. The developer has also released e-sports tournament guidelines for the multiplayer shooter, including the order to switch off blood.

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