Riot Games has released skins for VALORANT, and players are accusing them of lacking originality and “copying” Counter-Strike.
At VALORANT, the release of new skins is a very frequent occurrence. It’s an event that happens every two to three weeks or so; it usually gets the attention of the fan community. However, players don’t usually go beyond commenting on their opinions of the new skins on social networks.
They discuss whether the cosmetics are worth buying, whether they look good, and whether the price is reasonable. However, this time something different has happened; the launch of the new “Black Market” collection has sparked a major debate.
Numerous members of the community, especially Riot Games fans, have responded with incredible anger, bringing up old accusations of alleged plagiarism to Counter-Strike.
New skins collection at VALORANT
VALORANT’s black market collection of weapons was inspired by real weaponry.
Switch sides // Switch skins. The Black Market Bulldog, Vandal, Marshal, Classic and Butterfly Knife Melee have unique Defender and Attacker appearances. Bundle hits your shop April 12th. pic.twitter.com/MIKsW9Z0QD
— VALORANT (@VALORANT) April 10, 2023
- The default pistol in the game becomes a gun very similar to a Glock.
- On the other hand, the Vandal almost completely adopts the features of an AK-47.
- However, the Bulldog has a strong resemblance to a somewhat futuristic FAMAS.
- The Marshall resembles a light sniper rifle.
- And to complete the group of skins, a butterfly knife.
All the weapons that make up the new collection of skins have the particularity of displaying various colors depending on whether you are being used for the attacking or defensive teams.
Riot Games plagiarized Valve’s weapons?
Although Riot Games seems to have made decisions to avoid so many similarities, the greater realism of the weapons makes the appearances much more similar to the weapons available in the tactical shooter developed by Valve. If to this situation, we add that just two weeks ago, it was announced that Counter-Strike 2 would be released this summer; this skins collection will generate great controversy at its launch.
The gaming community has made a lot of comments; among the softest, some comment that it is a “crossover”; however, some made much more serious accusations.
hol up pic.twitter.com/oIYG8qK8MN
— Steven Walker (@swalker_7) April 10, 2023
The truth is that this decision by Riot Games is a bit questionable; however, the developer cannot be accused of having plagiarized Valve since they invented none of the weapons.
However, it seems a bit strange that the creators of VALORANT have incorporated similar components into the game as their biggest rival.
Especially considering that Riot Games has been striving for years to differentiate its game from the one developed by Valve.
In VALORANT, you can see elements that will never be seen in Counter-Strike; the tactical variables of the agents and the maps are different for each title.
However, each person is free to make their judgment, although it is obvious that the biggest beneficiaries are the players in this situation. Suppose we consider that Riot Games will continue to innovate in its title to continue gaining ground in different parts of the world.
On the other hand, we have Valve, which has driven the entire community of CS:GO fans crazy with the announcement of the launch of the new version of the game.