"What would edgelords who love sci-fi want in a skin?": Valorant Devs reveal inspiration behind the Prelude to Chaos skinline

Aside from the new map called Pearl and the new Battlepass, Valorant Episode 5 Act 1 will see the arrival of a new skin bundle known as the Prelude to Chaos. This "chaotic skin line," as dubbed by Sean Marino, Associate Art Director, will be available for purchase once the new Episode goes live.

The Prelude to Chaos bundle will feature five different skins for various weapons in Valorant. These skins will also have different levels that players will be able to unlock by spending Radianite points in the game. Here is a list of all the weapons that will be able to equip a Prelude to Chaos skin:

• Melee
• Shorty
• Stinger
• Vandal
• Operator

Here's what Principal Artist Chris Stone, Associate Art Director Sean Marino, and Lead Cosmetic Producer Preeti Khanolkar had to say about the new skin line.

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Developers share the inspiration behind the Prelude to Chaos skinline in Valorant

When asked about the concepts that the team tried to convey with the new skinline, Sean Marino elaborated on the ideas they wanted to push forward with it. He said:

"We noticed that a lot of players loved the Reaver skins but we didn’t have a sci-fi skin that hit the same dark tone as Reaver. We literally asked ourselves, 'What would edgelords who love sci-fi want in a skin? What would it feel like to kill a demon?' Looking at Reaver, the audio and animations were what sold the power fantasy the most, so we invested a lot into custom animations and sounds for the reload, equip, idle, and inspect."

He further added:

"Of course, the two-handed sword ('Blade of Chaos') is the epitome of what this skin should feel like because its massive size and chaotic, moving visual effects perfectly capture the power fantasy we were aiming for. No other melee weapon could come close. When you’re wielding that sword and firing the guns, you should feel like you’re on an absolute rampage."

Chris Stone, the Principal Artist behind the Valorant Prelude to Chaos skinline, spoke about the development goals that they set for themselves while moving ahead with the Prelude to Chaos skinline:

"If the name 'fragloser' didn’t give it away, I’ve been playing FPS games for a long time. In fact, my first shooters were Quake III, Half Life, and UT99. It’s one of my favorite genres, and I’ve always had nostalgia for the industrial, heavy shapes mixed with potent and often unstable energy sources. With the recent resurgence of classic arena shooters, I felt it was the perfect time to bring that nostalgia and heavy sci-fantasy into the world of VALORANT."

Finally, while speaking about the challenges that the developers faced while designing this Valorant skinline, Preeti Khanolkar, the Lead Cosmetic Producer, said that:

"There was a lot of back-and-forth on the team about the custom audio for the skin. Some people felt like it wasn’t forceful enough, so we’d push it further, and then others would think it was distracting, so we’d go back and tone it down. We want all skins to feel 'powerful' no matter their design, but for Prelude to Chaos, we especially wanted to tap into the fantasy of being absolutely unstoppable, like a force of pure chaos and destruction."

She further elaborated on the important role that the firing audio of weapons in Valorant, had to play. She said:

"A large part of that power fantasy was in the audio, especially the firing audio. I think the firing audio landed in a good spot finally, and the Operator and Shorty especially are the best-sounding skins for their respective guns. I feel this rush of adrenaline every time I hear the Operator because it’s so damn heavy. I showed a teaser of the skin in a team presentation a few months ago and the stage literally shook when I played a video of the Operator firing. It’s both terrifying and inspiring."

The Prelude to Chaos bundle in Valorant will be available from June 22, once Episode 5 Act 1 goes live. Overall, these skins look really interesting, and hopefully the community will love the skins once they hit the stores in Valorant.