A senior Valorant developer has confirmed that the game will not support gyro aiming on PlayStation 5, with Xbox Series consoles apparently being the reason. Riot Games recently announced that Valorant is headed to console platforms later this year, with a limited beta planned to kick off next week.

First launched in 2020 on PC, Valorant is a competitive free-to-play 5v5 hero shooter that has garnered a huge player base in its four years on the market. However, after years of rumors surrounding console ports for Valorant, the game's PC exclusivity is finally set to end. Riot Games announced during the recent Summer Game Fest presentation that Valorant will be released for current-gen consoles in late 2024, and interested players can sign up for a beta that will begin on June 14.

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Riot claims that Valorant's gameplay on console will maintain parity with its PC version, albeit without crossplay. Now, another feature has been confirmed to be absent from the game's console release, and it could be a sticking point for many players. In a recent tweet, Valorant product management lead Coleman Palm revealed that the game will not support controller gyro aiming on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. This puzzled some PlayStation users, as the DualSense controller does support gyro functionality.

Riot Doesn't Want to Favor PS5 Over Xbox Consoles

However, Palm stated that since the Xbox controller for the Series X/S doesn't feature gyro aiming, the team opted not to incorporate it entirely in the interest of not "heavily favoring PS5 over Xbox." This has led to disappointment among several fans, as gyro controls have been adopted by many games in recent years, including heavy hitters like Call of Duty, The Finals, and Fortnite. Gyro aiming takes precision one step ahead compared to stick aiming on controllers, and in a game like Valorant which was primarily designed for mouse-and-keyboard, accuracy is undoubtedly of the essence.

On the flip side, Riot is ultimately beholden to providing a fair, homogeneous gameplay experience for Valorant players on consoles, and if gyro aiming were to be supported, it would give PS5 players a somewhat disproportionate edge over the Xbox players. Therefore, it's understandable why the studio had to forgo the integration of gyro controls, at least for now. However, if Valorant strikes a chord with console players, perhaps Riot could add gyro support for PS5 at the expense of turning off crossplay with Xbox players. As for Xbox controllers getting gyro aiming, one can only hope it's something Microsoft is looking at for its next-gen Xbox console.

Valorant

Produced by Riot Games, Valorant is a 5-vs-5 team-based shooter that is very reminiscent of the Counter-Strike series. There are many operatives for players to choose from, each with their own unique abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Players will be able to purchase weapons and upgrades before each round.

Platform(s)

PC

Released

June 2, 2020

Developer(s)

Riot Games

Publisher(s)

Riot Games

Genre(s)

Shooter