Valorant-like game Hyper Front officially launched for mobile devices in 4 countries

Hyper Front, an FPS title for mobile gaming audiences, has made its way into the Google Play Store for players in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore on January 20, 2022.

Initially titled Project M, the game commenced its beta testing in August 2021. However, soon after their official release, Hyper Front drew heavy criticism due to its similarity to Riot Games' popular tactical shooter, Valorant.

NetEase Games, a Chinese game development company, is credited for the game's formulation. Hyper Front is described as a free-to-play 5v5 Hero-based FPS game by developers and features 23 different weapons that players can use to engage in a tactical battle.

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How does Hyper Front compare with Valorant?

With an early 2022 release, Hyper Front is out for mobile gamers in South Asia for selected countries, as of now. They aim to captivate the mobile gaming community who have been yearning for a team-based FPS title similar to Valorant.

Riot Games have been successful in turning Valorant into one of the most popular online multiplayer games in the world, while witnessing similar success in the esports scene as well. However, the game is yet to hit the mobile audience with its immersive gameplay. Despite Valorant Mobile being in the works since 2021, Riot are yet to provide any further details regarding its release.

The online gaming community has been active in pointing out the various similarities between the two FPS titles, in terms of gameplay and mechanics. While both games are 5v5 first-person shooters, Hyper Front requires teams to claim 14 rounds for a victory, as opposed to Valorant's 13 rounds.

Also, Hyper Front has 23 different guns, as opposed to Valorant's 17. However, weapons like the Phantom, Vandal, Operator, Ghost, Classic, and several others have similar variants in NetEase's 5v5 shooter. The game also has characters with abilities similar to that of a few Valorant Agents, notably Reyna's Leer, Sage's Resurrection, and Brimstone's Sky Smokes.

Prior to this, NetEase Games had several releases similar to other renowned gaming titles. Creative Destruction, their FPS/TPS sandbox survival game, was majorly influenced by Fortnite, while Knives Out and Rules of Survival posed striking similarities with PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG).

Unlike Epic Games, PUBG Corp. took it to court, filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against NetEase Games. According to the former, NetEase Games attempted to poach PUBG's audience right before the release of PUBG mobile, by releasing 2 mobile games with compelling similarities in visuals, audio, and gameplay. Although NetEase filed a counter lawsuit, the case was eventually resolved with a settlement under terms unknown to the public.

Valorant Mobile has been confirmed to be in the works since June 2021, when Riot celebrated the first year of Valorant. While the release date for the game is yet to be announced, players can expect it to be released soon. Earlier in October 2021, Riot Games posted a job listing for a Senior Game Designer, hinting at the mobile variant being in development.

However, in order to conquer the mobile gaming market for FPS titles, Riot has to compete with NetEase. Given NetEase's history with Riot's parent organization Tencent, Riot has the opportunity to sue the company for copyright infringement. However, with Valorant Mobile's release unknown, we can only speculate Riot's next steps.