As in LoL, in Valorant we can decide what to buy directly. And no buying loot boxes.
Riot Games, creators of League of Legends, have already launched with the previews of Valorant, their multiplayer shooter. After years living exclusively off his MOBA, he now wants to venture into more genres.
No loot boxes, just micropayments for cosmetics
Given that it is known to be free to play, there are doubts as to which monetization path Valorant will use. And the answer is that it will be the same as in League of Legends: pay for cosmetics. Thus, we can buy all kinds of visual accessories, and always knowing which ones we are going to get.
It won't follow the Overwatch craze of using loot boxes with random items. They could get people hooked on these mechanics but with the growing number of countries regulating online gambling like Belgium, they don't want to risk having to make country-specific changes.
At Riot Games they weigh the possibility that Valorant skins can have levels. They believe that they will compromise the game since one of the design principles is that by looking at the silhouette you know which character you are facing. This problem can be noticed in Overwatch, which has many skins that change the appearance of the heroes to such an extent that it is difficult to recognize them.
But they know that they will not change the appearance of the protagonists of Valorant for now, so we imagine that the cosmetics that will be sold at the beginning will be weapons, visual effects and emoticons. But there is still time for free to play to hit the market. When it comes out we will see what cosmetics it offers and if they really affect the game or not. They already warn that this may change and that after a few years we will see a skin market as we already see with the hundreds of League of Legends champions.
Source: PCGamesN
