Valorant makes you watch before you play—that’ll change online games forever

Enlarge / Riot and Twitch have partnered for a first-of-its-kind game-test giveaway. Its success is a good sign that we'll see this gimmick happen again—and that it's, surprisingly, good news. (credit: Riot / Sam Machkovech)

Why do I keep coming back to Valorant, a new online tactical-combat game from Riot? Most of my reasons can be found in my April 8 closed-beta impressions article, in which I break down the game's impressive twists on Counter-Strike.

In that article, I briefly pointed to one unique aspect of the game's closed beta state: how players actually get into this early test. You didn't sign up for a newsletter, enter a contest, or otherwise look for digital unlock keys. No, you had to watch other people play the game before you could join in.

I want to expand on this. Restricted access to early beta tests of games has been done for years but never like this—and Riot and Twitch's partnership is worth dissecting. Its success is a guarantee that we'll see other games attempt this trick again.

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