VALORANT and Unreal Engine 5

VALORANTs SVP and head of studios Anna Donlon took the stage at this year’s Unreal Fest on October 1 and made waves after announcing that Riot’s tactical shooter will soon be ported to Unreal Engine 5.

As the name suggests, the engine used to design a game determines every aspect of the gameplay, from shooting mechanics and movement to lighting and map layouts. The scope of future updates also depends on the game engine, and with Riot’s FPS reaching over 35 million players in its fifth year since release, the developer will soon be moving to the latest version of Unreal Engine.

If you’re wondering which game engine VALORANT used at the moment or want to know how the port to Unreal Engine 5 will affect your matcheshere’s all the information you need to know.

What engine does VALORANT use?

VALORANT has walked on the Unreal engine 4 since the game launched in June 2020. The developer confirmed that the tactical shooter will continue Unreal engine 4.27 and it made the most of its fourth iteration.

Why is VALORANT switching to Unreal Engine 5?

While VALORANT has become one of the most popular tactical shooters (a strong competitor of Counterattack 2), it doesn’t have the most enticing graphics. In her opening remarks, Donlon agreed with this sentiment: “While I imagine people have a lot of positive things to say about the game, graphics-forward is probably not one of them.”

The lack of visual appeal is always overlooked as the game can run on various PC configurations, allowing even low-end setups to reach well above 60 frames. The developer added that competitive integrity – a level playing field for all players – has always been their main concern, which may be one reason why they’ve stuck with Unreal Engine 4 despite the newer version having been available for over two years now is.

Sticking with the fourth iteration of the Unreal Engine also helped Riot spend fewer resources on creating the console version of the game, thanks to this version’s console support and features.

But the improved graphics are just the tip of the iceberg. Donlon teased that the VALORANT developers are excited about the exciting new possibilities that the motor switch brings. “Maybe those developers are working on something I can’t talk about. Perhaps those developers are thinking about ways to expand the Val universe into new playable experiences.”

How will switching from VALORANT to Unreal Engine 5 affect your FPS?

VALORANTs Optimization and performance (incredibly high FPS) have always been at the helm of the developer’s vision, allowing the game to gather millions of players from all over the world every day. Given that Donlon emphasized the importance of competitive integrity VALORANT, the engine switch will not affect your performance-at least not to the extent that it hinders your in-game performance.

Donlon also assured players that the Unreal Engine 5 update “won’t significantly change the way Val looks or performs, at least not right away.” However, if you’re already doing everything you can to get the maximum number of frames out of your PC toaster, it might be time to upgrade when VALORANT will be ported to the new game engine.

Many in the community also believe that the port will allow developers to work on exciting new single-player missions based on the agents in VALORANT. On the other hand, fans are speculating that this could be a stepping stone for Project T, Riot’s secret upcoming game, which may be set in the VALORANT universe..