Project A almost definitely called Valorant as Sage character leaks

Since its reveal back in October at Riot Pls, there's been scant information about Riot's new FPS title Project A.

Riot billed it as a "character-based tactical shooter" with gameplay, judging by a short teaser, which had more than a passing resemblance to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Information backed up by CS:GO commentator HenryG who got some hands-on time with the game, described a 5v5 round-based shooter, where players purchased weapons at the start of each round. The game mode he played involved an attacking and defending team and two bomb sites with teams required to win 12 rounds. 

While it sounds familiar, one key difference is the class system and the option of purchasing abilities at the start of each round.

However, HenryG noted the class and abilities system was not as integral to the game akin to Overwatch, with the abilities currently in the game performing similar functions to things like smoke grenades and flashbangs in CS:GO.

"You can have a great time playing with having to rely *too* much on the abilities to assist you," he tweeted.

A number of new leaks have since emerged suggesting Project A will be called Valorant.

According to Twitter account, ProjectAOnline Riot, has trademarked a Valorant website, and fans of the game have discovered a Twitter handle called PlayValorant, which has yet to tweet after joining in February 2020.

There has also been several leaks providing us with some clues as some of the characters we could see in the game.

@ValorantTheGame posted an image of Sage, a character that going off the description of the abilities in the leak was featured in the Project A announcement video.

Three characters' names were revealed including Brimstone, Viper and Sage with each having a type with Brimstone classified as support, Viper offence and Sage as defence.

According to the leaked image, Sage has four abilities: 

• Barrier Orb - Equip a barrier orb. FIRE places a solid wall. ALT FIRE rotates the targeter.
• Slow Orb - EQUIP a slowing orb. FIRE to throw a slowing orb forward that detonates upon landing, creating a lingering field that slows and grounds players caught inside of it.
• Healing Orb - EQUIP a healing orb, FIRE with your crosshairs over a damaged ally to activate a heal-over-time on them. ALT-FIRE while sage is damaged to activate a self heal-over-time.
• Resurrection - EQUIP a resurrection ability. FIRE with your crosshairs placed over a dead ally to begin resurrecting them. After a brief channel, the ally will be brought back to life with full health.

The image also displays the match as being "unranked" with mention of "Bind" which could refer to the map or game mode.

It also suggests players will select their characters before the start of the map with some being initially locked.

One fan account, @ValorantG has gone as far to say the game will be revealed on 2nd March, with a beta possibly coming out on the 4th March.

While it's important to take these leaks with a pinch of salt, Riot filed trademarks for the name Valorant on 20th February - indicating they're set to release or announce something under that name. 

Could an announcement be imminent? We'll have to wait and see.