Following the recent launch of Valorant after a lengthy beta period, Riot Games has offered fans a detailed explanation of how the game’s Episodes, Acts, and Battlepasses will work. At launch, Valorant is now into its first Episode, and the “Act I” Valorant Battlepass is currently available.
Episodes, Acts, and the First Valorant Battlepass
According to Riot Games, Valorant’s post-launch cycle will be broken down into Episodes and Acts. The game is currently in Episode I, Act I, and so the Act I Valorant Battlepass is available for players to acquire. Each new Act in Valorant will feature an accompanying Battlepass, with each Act lasting roughly two months. While the specific details about the Battlepass may change over time, the Act I Battlepass features 50 tiers and has both a free and Premium path, similar to how the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare pass has free tiers.
Each Battlepass in Valorant can itself be broken down into 10 Chapters, each of which contains 5 Premium tiers. Once you complete a Chapter, you’ll earn a free Chapter completion reward and unlock the next Chapter. Players can complete all 10 Chapters without paying for the Premium content. However, without Premium, you won’t unlock the 5 Premium items in each Chapter. (Note that Premium rewards will retroactively unlock if you choose to go Premium mid-Act).
While Riot has said that a new Act will launch every two months or so, it’s currently unknown exactly how long ‘Episodes’ will be. Riot has said that players should; “consider VALORANT launch day the start of our Episode 1,” but hasn’t stated how many Acts each Episode will include. Of course, it’s possible that the number has yet to be decided upon internally. It also may not prove to be a consistent figure for each Episode. Regardless, the system is something of a deviation from the more familiar ‘seasons’ which feature in many other multiplayer titles.