Jared Berbach, principle producer and product manager for Valorant, shared his thoughts on Twitter about the future of the game’s death match mode.
Berbach covered his personal thoughts about future features that may be added to the game at some point, as well as the development team’s approach to designing death match for Valorant. He also broke down who the team perceives as the mode’s audience and potential warmup features for the future.
Who plays death match?
The current free-for-all deathmatch mode has two different audiences, according to Berbach. There are players who want to play death match specifically, get the most kills and win the game, and those who use the mode as a means to warm up their aim.
In the 15-tweet thread, Berbach broke down how the team would like to serve both audiences. For those who want to play a more casual game, he said the development team is looking into adding other modes with features like power ups and killstreaks alongside a definitive ending. This game would be more akin to a Call of Duty mode than a tactile FPS minigame.
As for those who would like to keep their aim crisp, Berbach explained that the current mode model would need some massive changes to accommodate that audience. Death match in Valorant would need to become a constant running feature that would allow new players to drop in at any time while also matching players at similar skill levels.
The future of Valorant game modes
The thread also explains the logistical limitations of adding a drop-in feature to death match. Valorant does not currently have that kind of feature. Once a game starts, no new players can join, and adding that feature to the game will take time. However, Berbach said the issue is on the development team’s mind, and that an additional warm up feature while waiting in a ranked queue is also a possibility.
“This work is actually relatively complex, so we’re putting in the time to make sure it’s [a] great plan for the future of VALORANT and a great play experience.” Berbach wrote. “I know it can be frustrating to wait as a player, but we hope this is worth it.”
He ended the thread by saying that he understands what the community is expressing, in terms of wanting a warm up mode, and that the community can expect more quality of life features in the future.
