Riot Games officially confirms the Valorant closed beta dates and reveals more information about the game's microtransactions. The closed beta for the multiplayer shooter game will be available several months before the Valorant release date of summer 2020.
In a new post on the official Valorant site, Riot Games has said that the closed beta for the game will begin at 2PM CET on April 7, 2020. Fans in the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia, Turkey, and CIS countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) will be able to enjoy the game though Riot suggests that more countries could also get access if possible.
To sign up to the Valorant closed beta, fans will need to create a Riot Games account, link that to their Twitch account, and watch Valorant closed beta streams on Twitch. Riot and Twitch have worked together several times before for things such as free League of Legends loot being offered to Twitch Prime members and it seems that they'll be growing that deal with Valorant. Riot says that "the number of players we let in is based on our current server capacity," suggesting that there could be a wait to get in.
Riot also confirms a small amount of information about how Valorant's microtransactions will work. After saying that Valorant will not have any loot boxes, Riot says that something called "Valorant Points" will be available in the closed beta. Players who spend on Valorant Points in the closed beta will also get these back with a 20% bonus when the full game is released.
The announcement doesn't confirm everything about the Valorant closed beta or its microtransactions though and fans may have to wait to play it on April 7 before they get answers. There are several confirmed characters in the game such as support character Sage and Phoenix, who has flame attacks. However, Riot hasn't said how many of these will be playable in the beta.
Riot has also confirmed plans to add new Valorant maps and characters but it's unclear if these will be added while the beta goes on or if it will be the same right through until the game's launch. There is no official end date for the Valorant closed beta though as Riot says that it wants to keep it short but will make it longer if players aren't happy with something, meaning that fans could have several weeks to enjoy it.
Valorant will be released in summer 2020 on PC.
Source: Riot Games