VALORANT and Unreal Engine 5 – What engine does VALORANT use?

VALORANT’s SVP and head of studios, Anna Donlon, took to the stage on Oct. 1 during this year’s Unreal Fest and made waves after announcing that Riot’s tactical shooter is soon porting to Unreal Engine 5.

As the name suggests, the engine used to design a game determines every aspect of the gameplay, from shooting mechanics and movement to lighting and map layouts. The scope of future updates also depends on the game engine, and with Riot’s FPS boasting well over 35 million players during its fifth year since release, the developer will soon swap to the latest version of Unreal Engine.

If you’re wondering what game engine VALORANT uses right now or wish to know how the port to Unreal Engine 5 will affect your matches, here’s all the info you need to know.

What engine does VALORANT use?

VALORANT has run on the Unreal Engine 4 since the game launched in June 2020. The developer confirmed that the tactical shooter runs on Unreal Engine 4.27 and it’s squeezed the most out of the fourth iteration.

Why is VALORANT switching to Unreal Engine 5?

While VALORANT has become one of the biggest popular tactical shooters (a stiff competitor to Counter-Strike 2), it doesn’t feature the most enticing graphics. In her opening remarks, Donlon agreed with this sentiment: “While I imagine folks would have many positive things to say about the game, graphics-forward is likely not one of them.”

The lack of visual appeal is always overlooked because the game can run on various PC configurations, allowing even low-end setups to achieve well over 60 frames. The developer added that competitive integrity—a level playing field for all players—has always been their primary concern, which may be a reason why they’ve stayed on Unreal Engine 4 despite the newer version now being available for over two years.

Sticking to the Unreal Engine’s fourth iteration also helped Riot dedicate lower resources while creating the game’s console version, thanks to the console support and features of this version. 

But the improved graphics is just the tip of the iceberg. Donlon teased that the VALORANT devs are thrilled about the exciting new opportunities the engine switch will bring to the table. “Maybe those devs are working on something I can’t talk about. Maybe those devs are thinking about ways to expand the Val universe into new playable experiences.”

How will VALORANT’s switch to Unreal Engine 5 affect your FPS?

VALORANT’s optimization and performance (incredibly high FPS) have always been at the helm of the developer’s vision, allowing the game to amass millions of players daily from across the globe. Considering Donlon emphasized the importance of competitive integrity in VALORANT, the engine switch will not affect your performance—at least not to a degree where it hampers your in-game performance.

Donlon also reassured players that the Unreal Engine 5 update “is not going to significantly change how Val looks or performs, at least not right away.” However, if you’re already doing everything you can to squeeze out the maximum frames from your toaster of a PC, it might be time to upgrade when VALORANT ports over to the new game engine.

Many in the community also think the port will allow the devs to work on exciting new single-player missions based around the agents in VALORANT. On the other hand, fans speculate this might be a stepping stone for Project T, Riot’s secret upcoming game, possibly set in the VALORANT universe..