VALORANT
EPISODE 5, ACT II
CHAMPIONS 2022
DEV QUOTE SHEET
What were your goals when designing Champions 2022?
- ANSWER: When we were designing the Champions 2022 weapons, we wanted to give players a skin with the same feeling as last year: something that was aspirational and bold, that let you flex and show off your skill whether you’re popping off in ranked or dropping 30 on the VCT broadcast. To do that, we took a lot of the elements of the Champions 2021 weapons that players loved and added a few twists. Our goal with these additions was to keep exploring features that would enhance the esports broadcast while also continuing to build on the competitive feel of every players’ own ranked climb. The goal was to make the full Champion’s Aura feel aspirational and rare—it’s not easy to achieve and you won’t see it often, but when you do it should be memorable.
- PLEASE CREDIT: Laura Baltzer, Producer
What did you take inspiration from / any notable concepts you wanted to convey with Champions 2022?
- ANSWER: We had ideas for the Champion’s Aura in 2021 we weren’t able to create in time so we knew we wanted to try to accomplish them for 2022. One of the most challenging of those was the progressive kill effect. We spent almost a year developing this tech because we felt that it was an important piece in making the Champion’s Aura feel complete this year. We wanted to make the skin feel like it progressed during the course of the game. With this progressive effect, the skin evolves based on your success throughout the whole match. The player may not get to see their skin fully in every single game, but when they do, it will feel that much more satisfying. The design of the weapons was also very inspired by the Champions 2022 color palette, music video, and logo. For instance: the spark logo can be found on the back of the weapon as well as in the muzzle flash, and gold is reflected on the Champions Trophy as well as being prominent in the framing of the Phantom and the butterfly knife.
- PLEASE CREDIT: Stefan Jevremovic, Art Lead
Any unexpected challenges or novelty stories you’d like to share when designing Champions 2022?
- ANSWER: The new features we wanted to add came with a whole new set of questions and potential issues. We worked across multiple teams and timezones (our artists worked in Singapore, Los Angeles, and Montreal) to ensure the high standard of competitive integrity on VALORANT would be met. It didn’t mean everything was smooth. There were many late night meetings trying to figure out why the progressive effect would randomly reset or not register at all. We also increased the amount of time dedicated to intensive gameplay testing, which meant a lot of time and effort from our amazing testing team. It was a hugely collaborative effort. Ultimately, though, this skinline was one of our most rewarding projects: to bring a collection to life that we hope can represent this awesome moment in time for players.
- PLEASE CREDIT: Laura Baltzer, Producer
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