Riot Games respond to complaints over Valorant skin prices

Riot Games gave more insight on Valorant’s skins, addressing concerns from the community about high price points for the cosmetics that have been rolling out thus far.

The Prism collection is the latest bundle for Riot’s new tactical shooter, which has a steep price of well over $50 that had some players “furious” at the cost. Although it’s a sleek bundle, some fans didn’t think that the “reskinned default knife and guns” were worth it.

In explaining the company’s decision-making, Revenue Lead for Valorant, Joe Lee, said the Prism collection was made for a specific aesthetic in mind, and the price reflected that. Over the course of Valorant’s life, there will be skins that explore different styles or themes.

Some of those future collections will resonate more with the broader community, but the latest collection wasn’t geared toward everyone.

“Prism was designed for people who love clean, minimal gun aesthetics, and want to buy into a premium skin line that shows that off,” Lee explained.

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Since there aren’t a lot of options out in Valorant’s young lifespan so far, the concerns for collections that are released will naturally be scrutinized by the community since, “the [skins] that are out maybe don’t seem worthwhile to some of you.”

Riot reassured Valorant players who want skins with a more dynamic inspiration to their design, or just cosmetics at a cheaper price, that those collections are coming.

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“We also know there are others who want a gun skin that has all the bells and whistles: custom reload animations, geometry changes, alternative universes,” Lee continued. “We have plans to serve all of these needs with specific skin lines, we just need to make sure when we make something, it targets and serves a specific audience really well!”

For those who are into the low profile motif of the Prism Collection, the guns are polished and satisfying to look at. For those who want a more epic look to their weapons that comes with extra animations to unlock, then the initial Reaper skins are perfect to fulfill those needs.

Lee added that the optional skins are the primary method to maintain Valorant’s quality, but will “introduce ways for players to acquire weapon skins at lower price points, such as the battle pass at launch.”

With Valorant still well within its beta limitations in terms of its store, gameplay, Agents, etc., expect Riot to work off of the feedback from players to get the whole game ready for its Summer 2020 release.