Riot to add dedicated VALORANT servers for MENA region tomorrow

VALORANT players located in the Middle East and North Africa have struggled with poor connection since the game launched earlier this year. But Riot Games has taken steps to address this problem by establishing a new data center to help players in these regions. 

VALORANT executive producer Anna Donlon announced a new VALORANT data center located in Bahrain today, which will help players in the Middle East and North Africa have a more stable in-game connection. The latest data center will be introduced at the beginning of Act III and will allow players to get onto Riot Direct and present a more “competitive, direct connection to the VALORANT servers.”

Donlon also announced that Riot has built a local office in Dubai, which will help the company establish a more substantial local presence throughout the MENA region. This update will allow the region to participate in First-Strike, the first Riot-produced VALORANT tournament. All players will receive a MENA-inspired gun buddy in celebration of the region joining the VALORANT community and each player will get the item at the end of October. 

A dedicated data center is a significant improvement for players in the region who were previously forced to play with high ping. This should make a massive difference in matches since there’s likely a delay between actions, which can give the enemy an advantage. 

Many players are still waiting for dedicated servers in their regions, but the creation of the new MENA server is a step in the right direction and shows that Riot is dedicated to improving the gaming experience for players globally.