Even before the closed beta, Valorant succeeded in capturing the attention of a huge section of the gaming world. The similarity of Valorant to popular shooters such as CS: GO and Overwatch makes it attractive to try, while its differences allow the competitors room to exist. Valorant is one of the mostaccessible and easy-to-adapt shooting games to have developed in a very long time. It is no surprise that in only a month, the game has become so incredibly famous. The success of Valorant soared to the degree that even some experienced CS: GO players declared that they will retire from Counter-Strike and pursue Valorant. Big names wanted to search for a future in Valorant, as the CSGO esports scene has been subject to gradual depletion and has lost its entertainment value to a great extent. This article will discuss the reason for players switching to Valorant, so stay tuned till the end. The marketing strategy of Riot has certainly contributed to fueling the fire. Its beta key drop incorporation on streams have made it impossible to not bump into on Twitch. Viewer numbers leaped to the most famous Twitch streamers when they switched to Valorant with Beta Key drops enabled. A number of CS: GO and Overwatch professional players have confirmed their departure from respective competitive leagues during the past couple of months. There is a major difference between switching to a new game passively for purpose of content diversity or even solely sponsorship purposes, and retirement from the game.   It's so early in Valorant’s lifespan that its esports plans are still largely undecided; however, many players have decided to make the move, but what is it that really incites this move?  

Financial Issues:

The bulk of CS: GO practitioners who rush to Valorant, compared to those of Overwatch, are not on the top Counter-Strike stage. Lower rates of financial help appear to be a major consideration, which is why some of those players are now eager to pursue what Valorant has in mind. Players spend long hours training and competing in tournaments, but when they can't afford it, it's understandable that they want to try their luck elsewhere.  

Diminishing Interest:

The take on this factor comes from none other Cloud9CS Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo, one of the first professionals to select Valorant when the beta was announced. Tenz stated in one of his interviews: "I've decided to go pro [in Valorant] because when I was playing the beta, I realized I haven't had as much fun as I was having in a long time. Although it might be seen as risky to switch games, I feel that the future of this game is very bright. I will no longer be playing CS: GO while I am playing Valorant professionally.” Tenz admits that CS: GO isn't as thrilling as it was once for a huge range of experts. For a long time Valve has not introduced anything new to make CS: GO fun again, which is one of the reasons so many players move from CS: GO to Valorant. ScreaM is renowned for some of his wild plays in CS: GO. Nevertheless, the choice to transfer to Valorant was a huge surprise for many fans worldwide. In his tenure as CS: GO player, he participated in a large range of clubs, earning his biggest accomplishment with G2 Esports and Team Envy. According to him, one of Valorant 's best appealing qualities was how much more fun and satisfying it was to kill the enemy there than CS: GO.  

The difficulties of getting into esports:

Players will have to perform exceptionally well or get mates on the board of the few teams or organizations to participate. Teams face financial problems that import players from various regions. They just ought to stick out or be tightly linked, but even so, that doesn't mean a team will experiment with them. Players have to wait a bit before the new roster is being signed. It is very challenging to locate other people with the same mentalities and professional habits if you choose a particular path to attempt and build a new squad. It also means meeting the task of attempting to alter or manipulate others because they cannot ‘fit in’ with your methods. It's been unusual not to get an association since you do things to the pro-League team in the past. Today the road to these groups is much more popular now that both of them are now merged in one.  

Shroud’s Take:

This debate has been going for a while now, and reputed streamer and ex CSGO Professional Shroud decided to weigh in on the debate. His perspective counts a lot as a former CS: GO, player. He was mainly focusing his opinions on Valorant's lower skills. "This game is trying to reach people that don’t play FPS.” Shroud continued, “A lot of people that are playing Valorant have never touched a first-person-shooter in their lives. “That does mean that the game is not as difficult as others. For a game like CS: GO, one has to keep grinding until they have reached the summit of perfection. However, for a game like Valorant (according to Shroud), “It is not as punishing.” He also said, “When you talk about competitive FPS tournaments, don’t be surprised if Valorant takes over that scene. With recent developments, we can only foresee that this game is here to stay for a long time, competitively as well. Thus, it might not be a 'CS: GO killer', but it will have its own empire.”  

Conclusion:

Due to the similar design, common map types, and gameplay, Valorant has been compared to CSGO since its initial release. While the Valorant scene was enhanced by character skills and abilities, well-known CSGO professionals dominated throughout its closed beta. Players such as Hunter “SicK” Mims, Shahzeeb “ShahZam” Khan, Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro and, most recently, Ryan “freakazoid” Abadir have all switched to Valorant for various reasons. Some of the abilities they practice every day translated well to the latest free-to-play Multiplayer FPS. Talented, experienced players in these skills are attractive prospects for the growing community of Valorant's esport scene. It was only a matter of time before they began announcing their retirement from CSGO and their move onto Valorant. Valorant is on the road to reaching its promise so far, and it is only the beginning. Be it a lack of financial resources or a decreased participation in a respective sport, there's a plethora of reasons for pros to continue jumping over to Valorant.

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