Riot Games is adding an early surrender feature to Valorant in the upcoming patch 1.02. The tactical shooter features round-based gameplay, with teams fighting to either plant a "spike" on a point or prevent the enemy team from doing so within the time limit. Currently, teams have no option to surrender the match before the thirteen required wins.
Patch 1.02 will be the second patch Valorant receives since its official launch in early June. The previous patch saw the introduction of new game modes, as well as a nerf to the operator Sage and a slew of bugfixes.
The addition of the early surrender function was disclosed through the first "Ask VALORANT," a Q&A the devs plan to post every other week. While an early surrender function is confirmed to be coming with patch 1.02, the developers did not go into details regarding what restrictions will be applied to the function. If Valorant follows the lead of fellow Riot production League of Legends, players can expect an official release of patch notes the day before the patch arrives.
The early surrender functionality is reminiscent of League of Legend's ability to surrender games, which allows for teams to surrender as early as 15 minutes into the game if all members of the team agree, or 20 minutes if only four-fifths of the team votes to surrender. An exception can occur if a player is disconnected or flagged as AFK for 90 seconds, in which a remake option is available if two of the four players agree at the three-minute mark.
The ability to surrender games has been considered an important addition by many players. Often times, players are discouraged by large leads and feel the game has already been decided. For these players, the ability to save their time for winnable games is very welcome. For players who have real-life concerns come up during matches, this change will give them a way to concede a match that they would need to abandon.
Not all Valorant players are excited by this addition, however. Some players feel that such a feature encourages teammates to abandon winnable games due to minor deficits and is not in a competitive mindset. There are also concerns that more players will give up on matches or argue with teammates when surrender attempts fail. Balancing the option to end lost games without discouraging players from trying their best to win can be a delicate task, and will largely hinge on how the Valorant development team implements it.
Valorant is available now on PC.
Source: Ask VALORANT