With Riot’s reveal of Valorant on consoles, some wonder if the Nintendo Switch is next.
Valorant’s success amongst casual gamers and the esports scene brings to mind the heyday of League of Legends. Although League of Legends never jumped to consoles for obvious logistical reasons, Valorant doesn’t have the same issue. Competitive FPS games feel right at home on the PlayStation 5 as well as the Xbox Series X and S. However, the Nintendo Switch was conspicuously absent from the reveal. Riot Games has published multiple titles for the Nintendo Switch under Riot Forge. Still, Valorant would be the first time Riot releases one of its homegrown games on a Nintendo platform.
Recent reports suggest it’s not a matter of if, but when Valorant will get a port to the Nintendo Switch.
Riot has not confirmed a Nintendo Switch port for Valorant, but there’s reason to believe the developer is planning one.
The developer has not even mentioned the Switch as a possibility. However, data miners claim to have found evidence of a Valorant Nintendo Switch port in March 2024. They also found hints of the PlayStation and Xbox ports months before the official announcements. That said, the PlayStation data strings in the original tweet referred to the PlayStation 4, which is not the case for the official release.
That means even if the data mines are true, these may be leftover data from the canceled ports. Alternatively, the Switch string may not even refer to the OG Switch but the upcoming Switch 2. It would explain Riot’s silence, and the studio already set a precedent for focusing on next-gen consoles with the lack of a PS4 and Xbox One release.
Still, Riot’s decision to port Valorant means the studio has plans to expand its reach. Other than the disastrous Wii U, Nintendo has always boasted strong console sales, with the original Switch boasting well over 140 million units sold as of 2024. Tapping into that player base means Valorant could find even more players willing to grind out ranked and stock up on skins. It would also help populate the servers, improving matchmaking.
For the moment, all eyes are on Valorant’s limited console beta, which players can sign up for on the official site.
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