RIOT: VALORANT GLITCHPOP SKIN REVEAL

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Role: Direction / Art Direction / Design

Client: RIOT GAMES
Produced by: WE ARE ROYALE

VALORANT GLITCHPOP SKIN REVEAL

THE ASK

Riot Games launched a character-based shooter game called Valorant. Players enjoy the game for free and pay for various styles of skins and finishers to express their personal style. Riot wanted an advertisement that introduces this futuristic, glitchy, and Happy Punk theme and weapons to their international landscape of players. 

THE CONCEPT

Because the aesthetic originated from stickers for the gun pack that represented fictitious brands within the game, the idea was to make advertising as the content vs. content as advertising. There was a mixture of the neon streets from Blade Runner, the inner woven ideas of Inception, and gameplay threaded throughout the vibrant punk augmented world. It became an over-the-top advertisement interrupted by another advertisement, while containing a splatter of brands and logos in every corner. This was the ultimate creation of excitement for the bright collection of weapons and its expressive thematic.

MY INVOLVEMENT

To answer the ask, I formulated a treatment that represented otherworldly fun as a futuristic expression of carefully crafted aesthetic clutter. In production, I set the color palette and visual tone. I worked with the awesome team at We Are Royale to integrate illustrations, 2D graphics, 3D scenes, stock footage, gameplay, glitch effects, and in-depth compositing for the eclectic look. While managing the project and team within a condensed timeline, I storyboarded and designed scenes within the animated trailer. From the core set of deliverables, I led the design and motion teams to craft additional assets such as intros, outs, subtitles, thumbnails, and a Youtube end page. 

THE RESULT

At the end of the process, the trailer was a piece that really pushed creative boundaries. The positively overloaded video drew a lot of attention and excitement from clients and fans. This project was the first of many that resulted in a long-term partnership for We Are Royale and the teams at Riot to create many other trailers, releases, and graphic packages. The trailer was chosen as an honoree in the Core77 Design Awards 2021 by the Visual Communication Jury out of hundreds of finalists for its outstanding execution, insight, creativity, and intent.

On Youtube alone, this animation acquired 1,095,147 views with 48K likes.

And the fans say:

“The amount of work that went into this trailer is insane. Great job Riot.”

“Personally… I love this video… it’s bright, different, and stands out from many other game trailers. I just love the style… keep it up Riot. This video is a 10/10 for me, and it’s a really memorable video.”

“Props to Riot for knowing how to advertise their game.”