In October of last year, Riot Games unveiled a new 5v5 first-person competitive tactical shooter similar to Overwatch called Project A or Ares. According to a series of tweets from esports consultant and insider Rod Breslau, it’s a spiritual successor to hugely popular PC shooter Counter-Strike. Said project also received a trailer showcasing some of its gameplay around the time of its reveal:
And thanks to a series of accidental leaks from IGN, we now have new screenshots of the game which show off several of the characters as well as maps. According to Breslau, this looks to be an embargoed hands-on play test by journalists:
IGN has just accidentally revealed several screenshots from Riot's shooter Valorant (Project Ares) including several of the characters and maps for what looks like to be an embargoed hands-on play test by journalistshttps://t.co/IBoIgcgYSG pic.twitter.com/zh6xZFXhEZ
— Rod 'I don't sign NDAs' Breslau (@Slasher) March 1, 2020
As you can see above, the official Twitter account opened up shop as well, though they haven’t tweeted anything just yet. Breslau’s sources informed him that the Valorant press embargo will drop at Midnight PST tonight, and all new information about the game is scheduled for that time. Most likely that’s when the social media account will become active.
Check out all the screenshots revealed so far in the gallery bellow:
The company also has another game on the way. After years of rumors and speculation, Riot Games, which also developed the MOBA League of Legends, confirmed in August that it is indeed working on a fighting game. The news was officially revealed during EVO 2019 where Tom Cannon, the founder of EVO and current Riot employee, stated as much. “I can confirm that we are working on a fighting game for Riot,” Cannon said, acknowledging past rumors in the process.
In other news involving the company, they’ve settled its long-standing gender discrimination lawsuit with a $10 million payout to current and former female employees. Following a significant report by Kotaku last year that exposed a culture of sexism and discrimination of female employees at Riot Games, a settlement was reached in the long-standing class-action lawsuit related to the accusations brought forth by current and former female employees of the studio.
The post Riot Games New 5v5 Shooter, Valorant, Has Characters and Maps Revealed in Leaked Screenshots by Allisa James appeared first on DualShockers.