Riot Games is looking for a playtester for VALORANT Console

A new job listing has appeared at Riot Games seeking out a playtester for the upcoming console release of its shooter, VALORANT.

The details:

• The League of Legends developers' careers site recently posted a job listing for an "Associate Console Playtest Analyst" with a focus on "validation testing of upcoming gameplay experiences for Valorant." The applicant will "play in, plan, and evaluate playtests," with much of the responsibility shared with other QA roles, such as gathering evidence for feedback on "upcoming changes" in the console version.
• Although experience working in QA isn't required, the candidate must have experience playing a console FPS at a "professional" level. This means they'll need to be skilled enough on a controller to compete in the professional leagues of the very few console FPS titles on the market, the most popular of which are Call of Duty and Halo.
• The applicant must not only be a talented console player, but they must also be Immortal or Radiant in the PC version of VALORANT. Immortal is the second highest rank in the game and is a difficult feat to achieve, so applicants must be extremely skilled with both a controller and a mouse and keyboard. Technical ability alone will not get you the job, with the third requirement being a "high level [of] understanding of micro and macro decisions required to optimize valuable gameplay," though those who have reached Immortal will most likely have this covered.

What do we know about console VALORANT so far?

• Little is known about the gameplay, though Riot will need to figure out how to translate the tactical shooter gameplay to the less precise controller input method preferred by console players. Another source of concern is the game's ecosystem, with some fans pouring hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars into the game's skins on PC, leading many to wonder if cross-play or even cross-progression will be available.
• There is no release date as of yet, but given that the developer is now hiring playtesters after gradually shifting away from exclusively hiring for senior roles earlier this year, we could see an announcement soon. Depending on the current status of the in-development ports of League of Legends: Wild Rift, this could be Riot's first foray into the console market, so it will likely spend as much time as it feels necessary to ensure a smooth launch.