Riot addresses harassment and player behavior in VALORANT

There will be no place for harassment in VALORANT.

VALORANT executive producer Anna Donlon addressed player behavior and harassment today, explaining Riot’s stance on the matter. Since the tactical first-person shooter is a new title, devs feel that a strong “commitment” is needed to maintain a “fair, competitive experience for everyone.”

“I’ll be super real here: harassment and bullying in games is not a status quo I’m comfortable accepting,” Donlon said. “While I’m happy with the features we’ve developed to promote competitive, non-verbal communications, I still think there is more that we can and should do to protect those who do want to compete with all the tools available (like voice chat).”

While having pings and agent voice lines for callouts promotes some non-verbal communication, voice chat is still a major part of the game. So Riot wants to make sure that as long as you “play to win” and “respect” your fellow players, you’ll have an enjoyable gaming experience.

To help with this mission, Riot created a Central Player Dynamics team that tackles the science and research of fair team play. A code of conduct is also on the way, which will set the baseline expectations for behavior and detail punishments to those who violate it.

It’s unclear when the code of conduct will be published, but Donlon says it’ll come “as soon as possible.”