VALORANT universe

VALORANT has very extensive lore, with the community learning new things all the time, and this page aims to inform you about all the fundamental knowledge. If you were looking for how VALORANT's lore works, head here. It is recommended you read the page linked before this one if you are new to VALORANT's lore.

This page is meant as a 'hub' of sorts: the basic information is provided here, but it is strongly suggested that you take the time and explore the individual main articles for greater understanding.

Setting[]

VALORANT is set in the near future (around 30 years ahead of now), where the world has advanced significantly in technology through a near-magical new substance called 'Radianite'. The existence of this substance has lead to great changes in the scene of the world, although most basic aspects of everyday life still prevail (see Radianite below). A large megacorp, Kingdom, has gained a monopoly over the Radianite market and has grown to immense wealth and power (see Kingdom below).

Recently, there has been an emergence of people who possess paranormal powers. Those people have been called 'Radiants' (which stems from Radianite). At the point of the game taking place, Radiants have become an accepted minority in society.

While most radiants' powers are quite meek and don't affect their lives too much, there are certain individuals who have very high potential (Phoenix and Jett are examples of such Radiants, both of whom have been recruited into VALORANT Protocol)

Though we know that the events of the game take place in around 2050, the Devs avoid using concrete dates. Time periods are usually referred to around the basis of First Light (see First Light below). For example, the DUELISTS cinematic occurred 10 years after First Light, which is referred to as 10 aFL (10 after First Light) instead of ~2049 AD (for more information on VALORANT's timeline and dating system, see Timeline of Events)

First Light[]

First Light was a global supercharged Radianite event that occurred about 10 years before the game takes place. It is described as 'a sudden flash around the world', that caused (among other things) a global power outage. It was only after this event that Radianite and Radiance were prominently seen and recorded over the world.

While we know that Radianite had existed before First Light (see Radianite below), it was only after the event that it came to the forefront of the world, and began to be extensively used for the production of technology, energy and goods. Naturally, this meant that the few years immediately following the First Light were laden with major advancements in technology the world over.

The other major effect of the First Light was the introduction of 'Radiants' to the world. Soon after the event, some people began to exhibit unnatural superpowers. As stated above, they have become an accepted minority in society, however there is speculated to be some discrimination against them.

The First Light is said to be the first event of it's kind, although this is subject to some speculation, as specified by Creative Director David Nottingham.

Radianite[]

Radianite is the mysterious substance which became prevalent in the world after the events of First Light, and is used in almost everything. Radianite appears in both man-made products and occurs naturally around the world. One example of naturally occurring radianite are the radianite hot springs, which can be seen advertised on Split.

Radianite is also one of the reasons that VALORANT's biggest corporation, Kingdom, became so powerful, by monopolizing the use of radianite in aspects such as consumer goods to scientific research (see Kingdom below).

Radianite has many uses in Science and Technology. It has been able to greatly augment the world's development, allowing the creation of wonderous technology with almost magical capabilities. It is also used as a power source, and powers 3/4ths of the world.

Tech Users within the VALORANT Protocol utilize radianite by either powering their tech with it and/or creating their tech with radianite, allowing it to be much more advanced and powerful.

The notion that The First Light brought in Radianite to the world has been proven false: the Crashed Samurai ship at Icebox, which is multiple centuries old, contained a suit of armour infused with Radianite (Yoru later broke into Icebox and stole the mask from that suit).

The Mirrorverse (Multiple Earths)[]

The Mirrorverse is an all-encompassing term used to describe the existence of multiple Earths/Universes in VALORANT's universe.

While there may be several different Earths to exists, there are confirmed to be only 2 that are crucial to the story. They are currently referred to as α-Earth (also called Earth-1) and Ω-Earth (also called 'Earth-2'). α-Earth is the World that we follow, the one where all the above events have taken place.

Both the Earths are very similar, with only a few key differences. Omega is significantly more advanced in terms of technology. However, they also seem to face a crippling shortage of Radianite.

In desperation to get more, they have taken to conducting raids on Alpha's Radianite Stores. Both sides send teams to Spike Sites, to steal from or to defend the Radianite stored there respectively. For gameplay purposes, the Agents of Ω-Earth are the attackers, while those of α-Earth are the defenders.

Kingdom[]

Kingdom is a global megacorporation who has grown to immense wealth and power by monopolizing the Radianite market. Kingdom influences almost everything in VALORANT's world, and possibly amounting to the power and authority of some world leaders.

Kingdom's influence can be seen practically everywhere one looks, including in all the maps and trailers. The computers the agents use, the clothes they wear, and occasionally even the tech that they use is all branded with the Kingdom logo.

Kingdom produces all forms of goods, ranging from arms and weaponry to currency (as seen in the WARM UP cinematic). Kingdom has it's own paramilitary sub-organization (K-SEC), coffee chain (Crown Coffee), its own brand of Cola (Kingdom Kola), and no doubt many more. Kingdom's headquarters are in Tokyo, Japan, also known as Split, and their storage and production facilities, as well as research labs, can be found on other maps.

All the in-game maps have some connection to Kingdom: almost all of them are some form of Kingdom Facility (for example Split is the headquarters of Kingdom) or used for Radianite-related activities such as Radianite Mining (for example, Breeze), Refining (for example, Bind), Research (for example, Icebox and Fracture), Storage and Transport (for example, Haven), etc.

In many of these maps, Kingdom has used its power to impose its will on the surroundings, regardless of the feelings of the local inhabitants. In the maps Split and Bind, we see Kingdom destroying local infrastructure in order to make room for their own facilities. In both these locations, anti-Kingdom propaganda is clearly visible in several locations.

While Kingdom did exist as a corporation before the First Light, it did not operate at the same scale as it does currently.

Useful Pages[]

Compiled here is a list of other useful pages to check out when getting into VALORANT's Lore

• Timeline of Events - A chronological timeline of all the major events that have occurred in VALORANT's story.
• Terminology - A page detailing the various terms used when describing VALORANT's Lore.
• VALORANT Protocol - A summary on the VALORANT Protocol, an organization formed to contain possible threats that originated from First Light.
• Radiants - A summary on Radiants and Radiance.
• The Spike and Defuser - A summary on these two devices, which are highly relevant to the central conflict of the game.
• Brimstone's Office - A 'hidden' area under the Range, where we can find Brimstone's phone and laptop, to which the agents regularly send lore-relevant mails.