Valorant Episode 8 Act 1 begins next week, and today, Riot Games revealed that it will introduce a brand new weapon to the game. A double-barreled sniper rifle called the Outlaw, it is the first new weapon to come to Valorant since Riot Games released it in 2020.
As the third sniper rifle in Valorant, Outlaw stands out from the others because it’s a two-shot weapon that doesn’t break zoom when fired and has different reload times depending on how many shots are left. It’ll cost 2,400 credits in the pre-round item shop, which puts it between the price tags of the other sniper rifles during a match.
In a quote provided to Digital Trends, Valorant Game Product Management Senior Manager Coleman Palm explained that Riot Games hesitated to add any new weapons to Valorant for a long time because the developers believe each one needs to “have a strong reason to exist – what situations you’re purchasing it in, how you want to use it, etc.” After years of live service and balancing, Palm says the team saw the need for “a mid-price, lethal sniper rifle that we believe will bring more options for the sniping playstyle,” so Riot Games implemented the Outlaw.
Outlaw will be added to the game as part of a free update, but its weapon skins will still need to be paid for with real money. To commemorate its release, the Throwback Pack: Outlaw bundle will be available for 2,320 VP in Valorant’s store. It comes with the Prism//Reloaded and Ego Outlaw skins, each of which has three variants and also contains an Outlaw-themed player card, gun buddy, spray, and title.
You can use the Outlaw in Valorant when Episode 8 Act 1 begins on January 9.