Is VALORANT Free? Can you compete without paying?
In short: yes, VALORANT is completely free to play.
Most Riot Games games are free-to-play, so it’s no surprise that VALORANT is also free. There are some caveats, though. For starters, you do not get instant access to the full hero roster on a free account. There are also paid cosmetics (some are limited-time only) and battle passes in the game.
In this article, we’ll briefly go over VALORANT’s optional purchases as well as its viability as a completely free game.
Optional purchases in VALORANT
VALORANT offers a number of ways to pay money.
There are cosmetics for your weapons, as well as seasonal battle passes to spend your money on. This is pretty standard for a free-to-play game, and the cosmetics don’t influence gameplay in any way. There might be the occasional bug with a new cosmetic that can make players less visible or something like that, but those usually get patched out quickly.
If you’re a new player, it’s worth noting that you do not have access to the full agent roster upon starting the game. You need to unlock agents through grinding, or you can speed up the process by unlocking agents with in-game credits. The cost of unlocking an agent with in-game currency is around $10.
Price of cosmetics in VALORANT
VALORANT skins vary in price depending on how unique and detailed the skins are. Skins get released to the game in bundles, allowing players to purchase a set of skins at a discount. Bundles range from $40 to $120.
The cheapest individual skins start at $10 per skin, the most expensive ones can cost up to $30 per skin. The cheapest knives start at $18 and can go up to $60.
Skins in VALORANT can be refunded, provided they have not been used/upgraded. The refund request must also come in within 14 days of the purchase date. After that, there is no way to refund VALORANT skins. There is also no way to trade VALORANT skins with other players.
Free to play viability of VALORANT: Good
Technically speaking, there is no content in VALORANT that’s locked behind a paywall. A paying player does not have access to anything gameplay-related that cannot be accessed by players who haven’t spent a dime.
Given the fact that VALORANT’s roster of agents is ever-expanding, it can take quite a long time before you get access to all the agents if you’re completely free to play though. Furthermore, when a new agent gets added, it can be frustrating to have to grind to unlock said agent. Especially if that agent is a little overpowered on release.
Keeping up with new agent releases and unlocking agents in a timely manner is no problem for regular players. However, if you’ve taken a break from the game, or you’re completely new, it will take many, many hours to unlock all agents. This slightly lowers the free to play viability of VALORANT. If you want to have a truly competitive game, all players should have access to the same gameplay elements at all times.
How to play VALORANT for free
If you want to play the game, it suffices to download VALORANT from Riot’s website. Alternatively, the game can be downloaded through various other sources like Steam, Epic Games, and the Microsoft Store. The setup is straightforward and the game is quite compact in size; you will only need to create a Riot account in order to get started.
On top of that, VALORANT is quite light on your system and can be easily played on most PCs with decent specs.
Before you start playing the game, it’s important you optimize the game for performance. We have an always-updated VALORANT settings and options guide) for that. We also have quick tips for beginners to get you started in the game, as well as some beginner agent suggestions.
Conclusion
Even with a steeper learning curve, VALORANT is a great game to get into. It’s competitive, difficult, and sometimes rage-inducing but ultimately extremely fun. As you get familiar with the game, you will understand different agent metas, playstyles utility usage, and a lot of different things. The game becomes challenging as you climb the ranked ladder you will understand why the game is so addicting. With that, we wish you a great VALORANT experience.
