Riot Games was founded in 2006 to develop, publish, and support the most player-focused games in the world. Their titles have led to the creation of some of the most-watched and widely recognized esports in the world, with an IP that also extends across music, comic books, board games, and Arcane, its Emmy-winning animated series. Founded by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, and led by CEO Dylan Jadeja, Riot has 20+ offices worldwide with thousands of Rioters all working towards the goal of making it better to be a player.
Released back in 2020, VALORANT by Riot Games has become one of the industry’s most popular esports mainstays. For those unfamiliar with the title, VALORANT is a free-to-play 5v5 tactical shooter that features dozens of stylized agents with unique abilities.
Originally built and shipped using Unreal Engine 4, Riot has recently moved VALORANT to Unreal Engine 5 with the 11.02 patch which landed on July 29, 2025. With the update, the team at Riot is looking to upgrade the tools that it uses every day in order to build more benefits for its players while also enhancing performance across a wide range of hardware. In addition, the team is already getting value from features that impact development efficiency and iteration time such as Unreal Insights.
While Riot considers it crucial for the day-to-day player experience to remain the same due to the competitive nature of the game, fans can expect better frame rates and more consistent performance across different hardware configurations, along with faster patch downloads that reduce wait time during the game’s ongoing updates. Plus, moving to UE5 provides Riot with a solid foundation for future updates, which the team is constantly evaluating.
Just before the move to UE5, we had the opportunity to connect with Riot’s Director of Engineering, Marcus Reid, to discuss the development history of VALORANT and the team's process for upgrading the popular title from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. Find out what he had to say in our interview below.
Originally built and shipped using Unreal Engine 4, Riot has recently moved VALORANT to Unreal Engine 5 with the 11.02 patch which landed on July 29, 2025. With the update, the team at Riot is looking to upgrade the tools that it uses every day in order to build more benefits for its players while also enhancing performance across a wide range of hardware. In addition, the team is already getting value from features that impact development efficiency and iteration time such as Unreal Insights.
While Riot considers it crucial for the day-to-day player experience to remain the same due to the competitive nature of the game, fans can expect better frame rates and more consistent performance across different hardware configurations, along with faster patch downloads that reduce wait time during the game’s ongoing updates. Plus, moving to UE5 provides Riot with a solid foundation for future updates, which the team is constantly evaluating.
Just before the move to UE5, we had the opportunity to connect with Riot’s Director of Engineering, Marcus Reid, to discuss the development history of VALORANT and the team's process for upgrading the popular title from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. Find out what he had to say in our interview below.