Riot Games have left fans in a frenzy following the upload of a keynote video announcing their collaboration with hit EDM artist Zedd on a new collection. The Spectrum Collection, a series of gun skins for Valorant, marks the first collaboration of a musical artist with said game. This collaboration no doubt stems from the artist’s genuine appreciation for the hit first-person shooter. Uploaded only today, the announcement video now sits at ~700,000 views.
The video released was styled to be a mock keynote, parodying those from large tech companies. Fake applause played as Zedd seriously announced the upcoming collection, sleek images of the skins following. Overall, it was both a fun and unique way of announcing the new collection. Zedd himself took to Twitter shortly after the video was uploaded, announcing his excitement to have been able to collaborate with Riot Games.
This is not the first time the hit DJ and EDM producer has interacted with video game culture. He has often taken to Twitter to express his love for games and has even gone as far to stream few times on Twitch! Zedd has also produced a few video game soundtrack remixes in the past, his Legend of Zelda remix now sitting at around ~5 million views on YouTube alone. Therefore, it does not surprise many that Zedd would go as far to collaborate with one of his favorite games.
In return, Riot Games made sure to include aspects of Zedd’s career into the skin collection. Visual effects come into play in these skins, particularly on the knife, mimicking sound waves. This interesting wavering look is something not yet seen as a constant in a Valorant skin. The Spectrum Collection also introduces a cool new finisher, blasting EDM music and creating a ‘club’ effect after a kill.
This collection is set to drop shortly before the commencement of the Valorant Champions Tour, a year-long global competition in which someone is crowned the ‘champion’ at the end. Interestingly enough, this will be Riot Games’ first foray into an international competition for their highly competitive game.
With so many exciting things happening this month, it must be good to be a fan of Valorant!