Dubai, 11 October 2020: Riot Games has today announced the launch of its new dedicated servers in the Middle East located in Bahrain for the game VALORANT. The services will go live on the 14th of October, enabling players to benefit from a lower ping and smoother in-game experiences.
Arabic language support for VALORANT which will be available for all gamers across the world, will also be released on the same day welcoming the MENA region into the VALORANT global community.
This initiative is part of Riot Games’ regional launch for VALORANT which has attracted thousands of gamers across the region since its worldwide launch in June 2020.
This news is one of many things Riot Games MENA is planning for this region’s players. On the 14th of October, players will be able to see one of the agents’ gameplay in Arabic. In addition, Riot Games will be giving all players around the world a special in-game item to commemorate this milestone.
To coincide with the launch, Episode 1 of ACT 3 will also go live where gamers can look forward to a number of new features following the conclusion of ACT 2.
This includes a new map – ‘Icebox’ and the launch of ‘Skye’, who will be the latest and 13th agent on the roster. The ‘Icebox’ map will be launched unranked on 13 October and then ranked on 27 October while ‘Skye’ can be selected by gamers when it goes live on 27 October. It will also feature the ‘Singularity’ skin line along with the ACT 3 Battle Pass.
This is not all, Riot Games MENA is also looking to include the region in the global esports roadmap. Towards the end of October, Riot Games is planning to announce the first official regional esports tournament ‘First Strike’, set to be held in November. More information will be announced by Riot Games in the coming days.
The introduction of the servers and features comes after the launch of the VALORANT Arabic website on 1st October as Riot Games aims to grow their fanbase and the esports landscape in the region.
With many players putting their skills to the test, Riot Games is committed to achieving its goal of making VALORANT the most popular first-person shooter in the region and be part of their global community.
To help them accomplish this, Riot Games has undertaken extensive testing to improve the game-play and provide an immersive and authentic localised experience.
Riot Games will also roll out a series of exciting new content and features until the end of the year to mark the regional launch and showcase what VALORANT can offer in Arabic and the positive impact gaming can have in the region.
This includes an episodic series of content that will offer useful tutorials and localised efforts, a music video featuring leading Arabic artists and humorous and insightful mini-series’ that tell the story of VALORANT Arabic gamers playing on the dedicated servers.
As part of its plans to make VALORANT more engaging for gamers in the MENA region, Riot Games is also exploring ways of enhancing the player experience for the North Africa and Levant market.
The servers in Bahrain also represent a major step forward for Riot Games with gamers across the Middle East able to benefit from seamless connection when playing through an optimised network.
Ali Muslumanoglu, General Manager of Riot Games MENAI, said: “In the space of just four months of VALORANT launching worldwide, we have seen an incredible number of gamers across the MENA region embrace VALORANT.
“We know there’s a strong appetite for gaming in the region and with VALORANT being an exciting FPS game that has got people talking and playing, we are determined to take the gameplay experience to the next level. Rolling out new and innovative content and features for the gamers will help establish VALORANT as the leading game in the FPS genre which is growing rapidly across the region.
“With the dedicated localised Middle East servers in Bahrain and Arabic language support for MENA gamers representing an important milestone for Riot Games, this will help attract more gamers and allow them to play the game they love in a language they understand.
“More importantly, this is the start of our journey and we have ambitious plans for the future to make VALORANT even more exciting and challenging.”