Riot Games has announced its decision to bring local VALORANT servers to South Africa for the first time ever. Anna Donlon, SVP and Executive Producer on VALORANT explained on Twitter that local servers were coming to the country, with more information to be revealed.
VALORANT is a free-to-play tactical hero shooter from the first-person perspective. It was developed and released globally by Riot Games for Windows in June 2020. Since then, players in Africa have queued on Bahrain or European servers like London and Paris with high pings, creating a huge disadvantage when playing the game. These players have often voiced their frustrations about the lack of African servers throughout the years.
“I’m a South African who plays on about 160ms on average (which is my lowest latency) in games. My friends and I often get called out for ping abusing in VALORANT however, that is not the case. We don’t have servers anywhere In Africa,” one Reddit user said last month. Moreover, there was a petition created in 2020 for VALORANT servers in South Africa.
VALORANT Servers: A step in the right direction
The addition of local servers in South Africa is a huge boost to the ecosystem in the country as it will lead to much-reduced pings and a better gaming experience. It will also foster the creation of more competitive teams and create opportunities for players to join the Valorant Champions Tour EMEA League. Riot also revealed that it will partner with Carry 1st to give local players in South Africa exciting experiences soon.
The addition of VALORANT servers in South Africa is a significant enhancement for the continent. Not only will South African players benefit, but neighbouring African countries can also make the switch. While players in West and Central Africa may continue using European servers due to distance, this move represents a positive step forward in expanding dedicated gaming infrastructure in the region.