Valorant: Agent Pick And Ban Feature Not Being Added, Devs Confirm

Valorant is finally here, and Riot Games has surprised many by noting that the game will not be getting a "pick and ban" system for agents or maps.

In a new Q and A blog post, Senior Game Designer Trevor Romleski explained the decision to forgo the system.

Valorant: No Pick and Ban System

"We've considered a draft phase for agents, but the current thinking is that we would not have bans", Romleski explained.

"For some more reasoning around bans: first, we expect teams to have set plays and strategies that will require very specific agents. Banning an agent would invalidate that entire strategy, and we don’t want to discourage practice."

"Second, bans often remove a players’ star agent and we want players who are exceptional at certain agents to be able to play them and show off their skills with them," he continued.

"Finally, because VALORANT doesn’t have hard counters in the form of agents (this isn’t our design philosophy), we think the game state is healthier if we’re held accountable to ensuring no agent or agent-facilitated strategy becomes so oppressive or unsolvable that a ban is the only choice."

Shooters like Rainbow Six: Siege have successfully implemented a ban system, but Valorant's more limited pool of four maps and eleven agents is likely tough to whittle down further.