You probably think Valorant just appeared out of nowhere in 2020 when everyone was stuck at home. It felt like that, right? One day we’re all playing League of Legends or CS:GO, and the next, every Twitch streamer is "dropping" beta keys for this neon-soaked tactical shooter. But the truth is, the game wasn't just "made" in a few months. It was a massive, six-year gamble that started way back when "hero shooters" weren't even a defined thing yet.
When Was Valorant Made? The 2014 Origins
Honestly, the development started much earlier than most people realize. While the world was obsessed with the Flappy Bird craze and the launch of the PS4, a tiny group at Riot Games was quietly asking if they could beat Valve at their own game.
Development officially kicked off in 2014.
At the time, it didn't have a cool name. It wasn't even called Project A yet. It was just a bunch of guys like Joe Ziegler (the original Game Director) and Trevor Romleski sitting in a room trying to figure out if you could put magic spells into a game that demanded the precision of Counter-Strike. They spent years just messing with the "feel" of the guns. If the shooting didn't feel right, the abilities wouldn't matter. You've probably heard the term "Precise Gunplay" a million times in Riot’s marketing; that wasn't just a slogan—it was the result of three years of prototypes before they even added a single character ability.
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The "Project A" Era
Fast forward to October 2019. Riot was celebrating the 10th anniversary of League of Legends. They dropped a video showing a bunch of new projects, and tucked away in the middle was something called Project A.
The internet lost its mind.
The clip showed a character (who we now know as Jett) throwing wind daggers and a guy (Brimstone) dropping smokes. People started calling it "CS:GO meets Overwatch." Riot hated that comparison, by the way. They wanted it to be its own beast. They spent the rest of 2019 and early 2020 polishing the netcode because they knew if the servers lagged even a little, the hardcore FPS community would delete the game in five minutes.
The 2020 Launch Chaos
If we’re talking about when the public finally got their hands on it, the date you're looking for is April 7, 2020. That was the start of the Closed Beta.
It was a masterclass in hype.
You couldn't just buy the game. You had to link your Riot account to Twitch and watch streamers like Shroud or Pokimane for hours, praying for a notification. At one point, 1.7 million people were watching Valorant streams at the same time. It was total madness.
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The full, official global release happened on June 2, 2020.
When the game launched, it only had 11 agents and 4 maps (Haven, Bind, Split, and Ascent). Compared to the 25+ agents we have in early 2026, it felt like a skeleton of a game back then. But it worked. The "made" date isn't just one day on a calendar; it's a slow burn from a 2014 prototype to a 2020 global phenomenon.
Who Actually Built This Thing?
It wasn't just the League of Legends team shifting gears. Riot went on a hiring spree, pulling veterans from all over the industry. We’re talking about designers from Half-Life 2, Call of Duty, and even former pro players from the Counter-Strike scene.
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Anna Donlon, the Executive Producer, basically became the face of the project. She came from Treyarch, where she worked on Black Ops. That’s why the gunplay feels so snappy. They also brought in Salvatore "Volcano" Garozzo, the guy who literally co-created the legendary CS map Cache. If you ever wondered why the maps in Valorant feel so "competitive," it's because they were designed by people who lived and breathed tactical shooters for decades.
Evolution Beyond PC
For a long time, Valorant was a PC-only club. That changed recently.
- Console Release: In June 2024, Riot finally brought the game to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
- Mobile Version: After years of "leaks" and rumors, the mobile version finally stabilized in 2025, starting with a massive launch in China before heading West.
- Engine Update: By late 2025, the game began its transition to Unreal Engine 5, which is why the lighting on maps like Abyss looks so much better than the original 2020 maps.
Why the Timing Mattered
Let's be real: Valorant was made at the perfect time. In 2014, the tactical shooter market was stagnant. By 2020, people were looking for something fresh. If Riot had waited another two years, they might have missed the window. They bet big on "128-tick servers" and a specialized anti-cheat (Vanguard) that remains controversial but effective.
The development didn't stop in 2020. Every new Episode (we're deep into Episode 10/11 territory now) feels like a mini-sequel. The game we play today in 2026 is vastly different from the "Project A" build that leaked six years ago.
Ready to dive deeper into the history? Here is how you can verify the timeline yourself:
Check the official Riot Games "Project A" announcement video from October 2019 on YouTube to see how much the graphics have changed. You can also look up the "Dev Diaries" series on the Valorant YouTube channel, specifically the early 2020 episodes where Anna Donlon and Joe Ziegler explain the core pillars of the game’s design. If you're a lore nerd, go into the Range in-game and look for the hidden recordings; they actually reference the "First Light" event, which is the fictional date the world of Valorant was "made."