Riot Games latest title has exploded in popularity as it continues to draw in huge numbers of sites such as Twitch and is certainly gearing up to become the next big esport title as the recent PAX Invitational certainly showed there is plenty of competition, there has been a little question around whether or not the success may be hindered by Riot’s roadmap however as the four maps that the game had launched with and remain to be the only four as the studio has confirmed that map releases will mostly be few and far between – that isn’t the only controversy facing the game though, as the same has been true with the cosmetic weapon skins that have been released and the high price that players must pay for them.
Both the Prime and Sovereign collections that were part of the release and second skin set were both met with a little trepidation from players but not entirely unexpected as the similar offerings in beta commanded a similar price, but the Elderflame collection that came soon after had been a little different. All in all to purchase the weapon cosmetics and the colour variation and VFX upgrades, a player would have to stomach the total cost of $260 all in all, a hefty price to pay purely for cosmetic changes. Whilst the Oni collection does come in cheaper, it still isn’t budget by any means leading many to continue complaining about the high prices that continue to be charged. Now these are completely optional and there is of course no requirement for players to pay as the game will remain entirely free to play, but it may make many feel as if they are being excluded from this certain aspect with the battle pass options coming in at a much lower quality, even for the premium choices.
There are some rejoicing a little however – mobile gaming and microtransactions have left to a big change in the mechanics of certain games as the growth of online casinos found, Fortune Clock are well reviewed by this site for example, the style of payment mimics that and slot machine styled games are found in big titles – Counter-Strike servers as a good example here with the cost of many cosmetics far outweighing that found in Valorant with many reaching into the thousands of dollars.
It’s unlikely Riot will react to the pressure they’re receiving and make and changes, after all they do tend to take this funding and put it into their esport through production and prize money, and will likely continue to do so for Valorant – but it does also beg the question of whether or not players should feel that change is needed to prevent this from happening without directly letting players know that this money will be used for that direct purpose for a feeling of involvement, otherwise it could be the feeling that dropping $260 every few months is purely there for greed and nothing else.
