In June 2021, Riot Games’ plans to bring Valorant Mobile to iOS and Android were announced. However, the wait for the upcoming competitive shooter is proving to be a long one. Signs of life may be coming to light, though, as a new window to pre-register interest in Valorant’s handheld iteration is currently live. There is a small catch, sadly.
Unless you live in China and have access to the TapTap application, gaining entry to Valorant Mobile is going to be difficult. While this might be disappointing news to hear, this is a highly positive sign for the FPS game. Over the last year, Valorant Mobile’s reputation grew through a series of closed playtests, highlighting key features that the game’s console equivalent take a few notes from. Riot Games’ willingness to allow players and creators to talk about the Valorant Mobile public beta is a key detail, as the developer is confident in what the free mobile game can offer.
Alongside the appearance of fresh pre-registrations for Valorant Mobile, footage of the game is leaking through playtesters. Specifically, the footage hones in on the game’s handy highlight feature, which appears to function similarly to Overwatch 2’s ‘play of the game’ vignette. If Riot Games wants to capitalize on Valorant’s popularity overseas, it needs to address the ticking time bomb that is the Valorant Mobile license.
Our report on the game’s current status highlights how Valorant’s original game license expires in China soon. With no word from the developer on whether it plans to renew it, it casts doubt on whether the Valorant Mobile release date is landing in 2025.
With Riot Games claiming more ad space on Chinese social media sites and applications, there is a possibility that this pre-registration period is building up to a possible drop with Valorant Season 25, Act Three. The shooter’s next major update launches on April 30, 2025, just a few weeks away. It wouldn’t be the first time Riot Games has shadowdropped something major either, following the launch of Valorant’s console equivalent during Summer Game Fest last year.
If that doesn’t happen, we speculate that Riot could reveal Valorant Mobile during the upcoming Valorant Champions tournament in Paris. This tournament kicks off on September 12, 2025, and concludes on October 5, 2025. With a little luck, we’ll all be jumping into the sleek shooter on our gaming phones before the year is over.
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