- Riot Games has filed a trademark for the name Valorant.
- Domains and social media accounts bearing the same name have also popped up this month.
- The upcoming tactical shooter, Project A, may be called Valorant.
Valorant may be the name of Riot Games’ upcoming tactical first-person shooter, Project A. At least, this is what would-be-fans have deduced from a flurry of trademarking activity.
Riot Games Trademarks ‘Valorant’
On Feb. 20, Riot Games filed a trademark for the name Valorant in multiple countries. Riot registered the trademark as a class 9 goods and service (among others – 16, 18, 20, 25, 28, 38, and 41), which falls under the ‘computer game software’ classification.
On the same day, an unknown party registered the domain names ‘playvalorant.com’, ‘playvalorant.net,’ and ‘playvalorant.org.’ The sites associated with the domains are currently offline. Similarly, Valorant-themed social media accounts were also opened this month, notably on Twitter and Twitch.
The naming of the Twitter account is particularly telling as it matches Riot Games’ usual style of affixing the name of their games to the word ‘play.’
For example, Riot has registered the website of its in-beta digital card battler, Legends of Runeterra, as ‘playruneterra.com.’ In the case of Valorant, the Twitter handle is @PlayVALORANT.
The Twitter account has already amassed close to 4,000 followers, among them a fair share of Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) professional players. This has fueled speculation that the account links to Riot Games after play-test saw several people connected to the CS: GO community invited to try out Project A.
Among those lucky enough to try out Project A was the commentator and former professional, Henry ‘HenryG’ Greer, who offered up the first meaty details about Riot’s upcoming competitive shooter. He sent the imaginations of prospective players wild by touting Project A as ‘the best game I have played since CS:GO.’
An Upcoming Announcement?
There’s a sense that Riot Games is gearing up for an announcement or more substantial reveal of Project A. In light of the trademarks and domain registrations, stamping a name on the project seems the most likely next step.
Ex-Overwatch pro turned Twitch streamer, xQc, recently revealed that he’d be visiting the Riot Games offices in Los Angeles next month. He didn’t explicitly state he would be play-testing Project A, but his words came after a question regarding Project A.
It’s worth noting that Riot Games has two other secretive projects (Project F and Project L) in the works. The Valorant trademark may be associated with these instead. As such, we recommend approaching this news with a sprinkling of skepticism before we receive official confirmation from Riot Games
This article was edited by Samburaj Das.
