Valorant under fire for “stealing” fan-made skin ideas without acknowledgment
A Valorant fan claims that Riot Games has been “shamelessly stealing” ideas for fan-made skins, igniting controversy among the player base.
Valorant has cemented its place as one of the market’s top competitive first-person shooter games. The game boasts constant content additions, from maps to agents, a thriving Esports community, and a spectacular in-game cosmetics portfolio.
More than the action-packed gameplay, Valorant reels in its loyal players with visually stunning skins. We’re pretty sure you’ve experienced picking up skins being a higher priority than getting your frags (whether your teammates like it or not.)
However, a Valorant player expressed concerns over Riot Games allegedly copying some of their best-selling skin lines from content creators and fans.
Valorant devs can use fan-made content “without compensation”
In the post, the fan calls out “pretty obvious” similarities between Valorant’s iconic skin, Radiant Entertainment System, and a fan-made Bulldog skin reminiscent of arcade and video game elements. Moreover, the player brands the Valorant team behind skin and cosmetics development as “lazy” over stealing content from fans and players.
Fan-made gun skins are in no way new to the Valorant community. Some fan-made content often gets mistaken as “leaks” on social media, such as Vegod’s take on VCT team gun skins.
On the other hand, other Valorant players quickly note that plagiarism is not always the case, especially with the Radiant Entertainment Skin line, which takes from a popular theme: Arcade-inspired skins.
Riot Games and its artists are no strangers to arcade-themed skins. They previously featured an Arcade skin line in League of Legends, which remains one of the game’s most popular skin lines.
Moreover, Riot Games is transparent about its intent to incorporate user-generated content in its games. In their community notes for their game intellectual property, Valorant devs detail their eagerness to use fan-made (non-profit) projects “without having to credit, pay anything, or obtain approval” towards creators.
While some creators may frown upon the royalty-free clause, this is a more relaxed approach to using in-game proprietary content for personal “translation.” Some game developers even issue a “cease and desist” letter for those who create unofficial content based on their IP.
Whether or not the Radiant Entertainment System skin line is plagiarized may be up to you. However, following Riot Games’ clear terms on fan-made content, it remains up to Valorant fan-artists and content creators if they still choose to pursue making content for the community without the possibility of compensation.