The biggest thing that has put me off playing more Valorant over the last couple of years is the length of the matches. Riot Games wants to do something about that with a shorter casual mode that it’s starting to test in the game’s public build.
Matches in the basic competitive and unranked (or unranked) modes usually last between 30 and 50 minutes. Each round can last up to two minutes or so. As such, it can take a while for a team to win 13 rounds and become the victor. Competitive games can go even longer if the score reaches 12-12, as teams must win at least two rounds in overtime if they vote to continue playing.
The new Swiftplay mode has a similar ruleset to Unranked. However, the first team to win five rounds will emerge victorious. Attackers and defenders will switch sides after four rounds and there is a sudden death overtime. Riot says Swiftplay matches should last around 15 minutes.
There are some tweaks to the economy and how players earn end points to make sure they can still access all the fun stuff in the shorter format. For example, at the start of each half of a Swiftplay match, you’ll get two final points for free. As such, you may be able to use the most powerful abilities in the game a little more often.
While Valorant has other casual modes that don’t last as long as competitive or unranked matches (such as Spike Rush and Deathmatch), Swiftplay incorporates the ruleset of the core modes in a more condensed format. Riot says it’s a frequently requested mode that should make it easier for people who don’t have a lot of free time to play more Valorant. It should also help other players get more reps.
The Swiftstep beta will go live with patch 5.12 today, which also includes a number of balance changes and tweaks to how different abilities interact with each other. Swiftstep will be available on all maps used for unranked mode and the beta will run until January 10th.