In games like VALORANT, the in-game character a player chooses is a direct reflection of their personal identity. It’s one of the biggest choices players get to make in the game - even more impactful than their preferred weapon or load out. Think of your “main” as somewhere between your favorite sports team and your zodiac sign - it aligns you with a particular fandom, you’ll spend each new patch following the updates and gameplay guides for that one particular character, and ultimately, who you play should reflect something about who you are - in game and in real life.
We developed several streams of content for building player affinity and helping flesh out the identity of each individual Valorant agent, from Spotify playlists that exposed players to the type of music an agent might listen to, to Golden Moments that showcased ideal opportunities to use an agent’s abilities to greatest effect. VALORANT is a global game that reflects its truly global audience, with agents from around the world that are deeply informed by the local culture in their regions of origin.
VALORANT // Agent Releases + Supplemental Content
ANIMATED CATCHPHRASES
This content series was an Instagram exclusive featuring looping videos of VALORANT agents, including an iconic voice line from each agent’s VO pack that best represented that agent’s identity. In order to make this series as visually impactful and high polish as possible while still making the costs involved manageable, we were able to leverage existing 3D models and animations from the in-game agent select screen so that no new animation was necessary - just some new backdrops.
GOLDEN MOMENTS
We created these Golden Moments videos to be released during VAL’s Closed Beta as an initial introduction to the original roster of agents available at launch. We leveraged in game voice overs for easy localization, spent hours choreographing just the right play to showcase agent abilities, and introduced players to the importance of music in the VALORANT brand identity with a killer soundtrack on every installment. We coordinated a global launch for every single one of these videos, ensuring all of VAL’s regional publishing teams were in lock step to drop the video content at the same time - an especially remarkable feat when you consider our source files were often being captured within a few days of release given the work-in-progress state of the game.
SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
Music — and a dash of global flavor — is a key ingredient in VALORANT’s brand identity. Beginning in closed beta, we worked in collaboration with Riot Music to create customized Spotify playlists that reflected the identity of VAL’s agents. We started using these as a teaser beat for later agent launches; players could spend the weekend listening to the playlist, watching influencer content, and getting to know a new agent before they got the chance to play. We were also able to secure amplification from Spotify and some of the artists included!
AGENT TAKEOVERS
VALORANT exists on “near future Earth” - which means agents must be out there somewhere living real lives when they’re not in game. We partnered with a creative agency to develop images for Instagram depicting what it might look like if VALORANT agents took over our accounts for the day.
GIPHY
Once an agent is launched, they become a part of the VAL conversation forever. We wanted to offer players more ways to express their love for their main across social channels, so we started creating custom sticker packs and GIF cutdowns for all new agent launches to ensure players could rep their main anywhere they prefer to post. We also partnered with the GIPHY team to get these featured on the GIPHY home page and gaming page the week each sticker pack launched.