Valorant | Console Optimization and Upgrade to UE 5.5 Announcement   Unreal Fest 2024 - video Dailymotion

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Overview of how Valorant devs were able to launch on console with the same fidelity of PCs utilizing the many versions of Unreal Engine, and teasing new playable options.

Transcript

00:00Hey, everyone. I'm Anna.

00:06I head up the Valorant studio at Riot.

00:08I want to thank our friends at Epic for inviting me here today.

00:10This is bananas.

00:12So most of you have no idea who I am,

00:15but if you did, you'd know that I can really get up

00:18all in my head on things.

00:19I like to be prepared and thoughtful and researched.

00:23And so when thinking about what to talk about today,

00:25I went back and I looked at a bunch of previous

00:28Unreal Fest keynote segments.

00:30And I was like, oh, crap.

00:33Because segment after segment featured these

00:35exceptionally beautiful games.

00:37Graphics forward games.

00:39Games that took advantage of some of Unreal's

00:42very best features and technology.

00:44This is Valorant.

00:46And while I imagine folks would have many positive things

00:49to say about the game,

00:50graphics forward is likely not one of them.

00:53And yet without Unreal,

00:55I don't think this game would have been possible.

00:58Our story is not one of day-night cycles

01:01or sprawling worlds,

01:03but it is one of extreme player orientation.

01:06The building of a global community

01:08and a story where our devs get to be the heroes.

01:12Our goal with Valorant was to create a world-class

01:145v5 tactical shooter.

01:16Hyper competitive, super precise,

01:19where the addition of abilities create depth and strategy

01:22without undermining the gameplay.

01:24We wanted our game to be truly global.

01:26One that not only reflects

01:28and celebrates our global communities,

01:29but also supports them by running on machine specs

01:33that sometimes feel downright uncomfortable.

01:36And we wanted no one, no one to feel like they were ever

01:40at a competitive disadvantage.

01:41Competitive integrity is our number one tenant on Val.

01:45So our devs needed to focus on gameplay feel,

01:48anti-cheat, server latency,

01:50combating peeker's advantage, and so much more.

01:53What Unreal has brought to Riot and to Valorant

01:55is the very strongest of foundations.

01:57Adaptability, flexibility, putting our devs in the position

02:01to focus on major innovations

02:03because instead of worrying about the engine,

02:05they're worrying about the things

02:06that matter most to our players.

02:08I'll give you an example, recent example,

02:10of what I'm talking about.

02:11So when we set out to make Val,

02:13we knew in our hearts and in our minds and in our bones

02:17that this game would be PC first in every single way.

02:21FPS on console, sure.

02:24But a tactical shooter on console,

02:26especially one that's trying to deliver

02:28the gameplay experience that we are,

02:30we really couldn't wrap our heads around it.

02:32And so upon launching the game, to our delight,

02:34we discovered lots of folks enjoy Valorant.

02:38Our player community was global.

02:40It was diverse, young, very demanding.

02:43And to be honest, larger than we were expecting.

02:46So our first couple of years were laser focused

02:49on all of those folks,

02:50making sure they felt fully supported.

02:53And then we started seeing the requests coming in.

02:56Val on console, when?

02:59And so console became harder and harder

03:01to ignore as an opportunity.

03:03Should we do it?

03:04Probably.

03:05Could we do it?

03:06That was the big question.

03:08I told the team and the community and my stakeholders

03:11that we would give it a shot,

03:12but that if we had to compromise on what makes Val, Val,

03:16precise gunplay, strategy, high stakes,

03:18competitive integrity, then it wasn't worth doing.

03:21Other goals.

03:22This would not be a traditional port.

03:24Console players needed to believe

03:26that this game was built with their needs in mind.

03:28We didn't want to build an entirely new team.

03:30We wanted to learn things very quickly.

03:33And if we were going to go to market,

03:36I kind of wanted to get there as soon as we could.

03:37So fun.

03:39Can you imagine us being able to do any of that

03:42if we had to port over a PC only proprietary engine?

03:45Can you imagine us being able to do any of that

03:47if Unreal didn't already have in built-in platform support?

03:51Unreal knows these platforms.

03:53It gives us integrations with console SDKs,

03:55rendering implementations, platform native input handling.

03:58The engine is already optimized

04:00for all the different platforms

04:01so we could focus on optimizing the game experience.

04:04And look, I know for most of you,

04:06that is a no-brainer and table stakes.

04:09But for Riot, we had never launched a live service game

04:13on console before, ever.

04:16So for us, having this capability

04:18immediately available to us was actually a game changer

04:21and a huge part of our decision to move forward.

04:23Once again, our devs could be heroes,

04:26focused entirely on what sets Val apart

04:28from other games in the space.

04:30Features like Focus Mode that helped us deliver

04:32true Valorant gameplay on controller

04:34without sacrificing what makes tap shooters great to begin with.

04:38Flexibility, adaptability, rock-solid foundation,

04:42capabilities that allowed us to learn a ton of things so fast

04:46and get to market very quickly.

04:47Millions of players are playing Val on console now,

04:50and we owe a huge part of that to our relationship with Unreal.

04:54So Valorant has been on a rocket ship since launch.

04:57It's actually incredibly humbling.

05:00Here we are just four years in,

05:02played by over 35 million players a month

05:05all over the world on all manner of PCs

05:07and now on PlayStation and Xbox,

05:09bringing major esports tournaments

05:11to all corners of the world

05:13and doing awesome music collaborations

05:14with folks like Zedd and Gravis and so many more.

05:17We have a team stacked with incredible world-class developers,

05:22Unreal developers, where the engine provides them

05:24the foundation required to make the very best experiences.

05:28And our teams at Riot are working so hard

05:31to make Valorant more than just a game,

05:33but a meaningful part of players' lives for decades to come.

05:37As my friend Ben would say,

05:38it's really exciting stuff, y'all.

05:42So look, I know that there was absolutely no Lumen shown

05:46in this particular presentation.

05:49No nanites, no animation motion matching.

05:52I could not rattle off a list of UE5 features

05:54that are transforming Val as we know it.

05:57Wait, actually, can anyone guess

05:59what version of Unreal Val is on right now?

06:024.27.

06:04That's right.

06:05We have squeezed literally every ounce of everything

06:08we could get out of UE4.

06:10So now we make the move to UE5.

06:12And that is not an easy feat when your game

06:14is a live service game, but it is necessary for sure.

06:17And this upgrade is not going to significantly change

06:20how Val looks or performs, at least not right away.

06:23But here's what I can say.

06:25There are many developers back at Riot

06:27who are incredibly grateful

06:29for what Unreal has allowed us to do for players.

06:32And there are many developers back at Riot

06:34who are very excited about what UE5

06:37can do for us in the future.

06:39Maybe those devs are working on something I can't talk about.

06:43Maybe those devs are thinking about ways

06:45to expand the Val universe into new playable experiences.

06:49Maybe we feel very fortunate

06:51to have everything UE5 can offer at our disposal.

06:54And maybe we are stoked that because we chose Unreal for Val,

06:57we can move our devs around and our tech around

07:00and our everything around really,

07:02really easily to explore those totally hypothetical

07:06new playable experiences.

07:08So maybe you'll see me or someone from my team

07:10up here in the future

07:12with a very different sort of presentation.

07:14But whatever comes next,

07:15you can count on us to keep working

07:17to deliver the best possible player experiences

07:19to our players.

07:20We know Epic and Unreal share our goals and excitement

07:22for the future of gaming, so really,

07:24our relationship is just getting started.

07:27I appreciate all of you.

07:28Thank you for the time, having an amazing Unreal Fest.

07:30I'll see you all later.

Valorant | Console Optimization and Upgrade to UE 5.5 Announcement Unreal Fest 2024

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