Valorant vs Apex Compared

• About
• Latest Posts

Ali Mustafa

Ali is a devoted gamer and a certified tech geek, always checking out new games on the horizon and looking for the next piece of kit to make his PC sing. He's a massive MOBA fan, a lifelong admirer of the GTA series, and when he's not playing games, you can rest assured that he's writing about them!

Latest posts by Ali Mustafa (see all)

• Valorant vs Apex Compared - January 11, 2023
• Ascent Valorant Guide - September 22, 2022
• Haven Valorant Guide: The Unique Three Site Map! - August 18, 2022

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the current online competitive multiplayer games heavily dominate single-player campaign games. So much so that you’ll find multiplayer components of many popular story games.

Apex Legends overtook Fortnite and Warzone as the most popular Twitch streaming battle royale, which shows Apex is not a game to underestimate, considering the game was released in 2019 – in which battle royales blew up overnight.

On the other hand, Valorant is a 5v5 competitive online multiplayer that took on CS: GO directly. The game amassed a lot of player traffic, especially from CS: GO gamers and streamers. It was a risky play by Riot to try to introduce a 5v5 tactical shooter while that market was already heavily dominated by Valve with Team Fortress 2 and CS: GO.

While Apex Legends and Valorant are different in online multiplayer video game genres, they dominate their respective markets.

In this post, we’ll compare Valorant and Apex Legends to see which game is the best.

Main Differences Between Valorant vs Apex Legends

The main differences between Valorant vs Apex Legends are:

• Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale game in which the goal is to become the last man standing., whereas Valorant is a free-to-play 5v5 competitive shooter, in which the goal is to plant and defend the spike in the first half, then defend the site or defuse the spike in the second half. The first team to reach 13 wins emerges victorious.
• There are two types of passes for Apex Legends: Battle Pass and Battle Pass Bundle. Purchasing the Battle Pass bundle unlocks the next 25 levels for the players, unlocking different weapon skins, music packs, banners, character skins, and voice lines. There is also a free battle pass level progression, which offers much fewer rewards than the paid battle pass.
• The Valorant Battle pass has ten chapters and progresses as the player gains XP from matches. Valorant has much cooler weapon skins than Apex Legends. Purchasing the battle pass unlocks the weapon skin pack for that season. There is also a free progression bar, but it only rewards the player with one free skin or player card after reaching the end of ten progression chapters.
• Apex can be played solo, duo, or in trio parties. You can play with your friends in a maximum party of three or match with strangers. 
• Valorant is played in a party of 5 people per team. Players with 4 members in a team cannot enter matchmaking, while a party of 1, 2, or 3 players will be randomly matched with other players to form a team of 5 players.
• Apex Legends allows you to respawn your fallen comrades by retrieving their banner after they’re killed and putting it in a respawn beacon. Apex Legends was one of the first battle royales to introduce respawning. Valorant isn’t respawn-friendly. Only the agent ‘Sage’ has the ability to revive one player after getting the ultimate ability.
• Apex Legends features 19 legends to choose from at the beginning of every match. Every Agent has a Passive ability, Tactical Ability, and Ultimate ability. At the same time, you can choose from 20 agents in Valorant. Each Agent has three abilities plus one ultimate ability.
• Apex Legends was launched two years before Valorant, which is why it is expected that Apex Legends has a higher player count than Valorant. As of 2022, 130 million players registered in Apex Legends reached almost 400,000 concurrent players in November 2022. On the other hand, Valorant has a registered player count of 15 million players. While the player count might be low as compared to Apex Legends, daily active and concurrent players playing Valorant are around 300,000 to 500,000, which is extremely impressive.
• You can choose from seven playable modes in the game: Training, Firing Range, Trios and Duos, Ranked Leagues, Arenas, and Ranked Arenas.
• Valorant has multiple game modes for the players to join with a max party of 5. These include Unrated, Competitive, Spike Rush, Custom Game, and Deathmatch. At the same time, there are special modes that are occasionally available, that include: Escalation, Replication, and Snowball fight.
• Apex Legends allows the player to battle in 4 maps for the Battle Royale mode and 6 maps for the Arena mode. Battle Royale Maps: Kings Canyon, World’s Edge, Olympus, and Storm Point. While the Arenas Maps include Party Crasher, Phase Runner, Overflow, Encore, Habitat 4, and Drop-Off. Valorant has 8 playable maps for each mode: Ascent, Haven, Split, Bind, Breeze, Fracture, Icebox, and Pearl, which are rotated from time to time (currently, Breeze and Bind are out of map rotation).
• Apex Legends can be played on Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5. Moreover, Apex Legends has been released for handhelds and smartphones as well on the Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS platforms. Apex Legends allows cross-play between different platforms as well. Valorant is only available to play on Windows.

Valorant Vs Apex Legends: Gameplay

Valorant

While Valorant and Apex Legends differ in gaming styles, the actual gameplay is quite similar between the two. Each player chooses a character and utilizes their character’s unique abilities to help their team get the upper hand over their enemies.

Moreover, if both sides in Valorant hit 12 wins each, the game will announce ‘Overtime,’ where each team has to switch sides and get two more wins consecutively to win the match.

If the teams still end up in a tie, then all 10 players get the choice of continuing the game or ending in a draw. In Valorant, the players of a team can vote for a surrender to finish the game quickly. If you leave a competitive match in Valorant, you will be penalized with a suspension.

While you might notice the similarity in the bomb plant/defuse style to CS: GO, Riot has added a twist in Valorant, which makes it a tad more fun than CS: GO.

Considering Valorant’s Agents are built with MOBA in mind, a well-rounded set of skills is essential for victory. The starting buy and handling economy also play a pivotal role in determining victory. You need to keep an eye on your money and your opponent’s buy to plan your strategy.

Games like CS: GO and Overwatch are in the same genre as Valorant (Check out more games like Valorant). Valorant is unlike BR games in that it emphasizes teamwork; one team must plant the spike while securing the bomb site, while the other team must prevent the spike from detonating.

Apex Legends

The terrain and roster of playable characters in the free-to-play Battle Royale shooter Apex Legends are constantly evolving. While the game is free to download, cosmetics and weapon skins can be purchased with real money, just like in Valorant. There are around 60 players in a match of Apex Legends; on the other hand,

You cannot draw in Apex; there will always be the last team standing which will be declared the winner. You can simply leave the game in Apex Legends, and your team will automatically forfeit.

A random member of the team gets to become the “Jumpmaster,” which gives them the authority to mark where the team should drop. The other two players can give their input on where to drop, but ultimately it is the Jumpmaster who determines the destination and the direction in which the players jump.

Suppose a player decides not to follow Jumpmaster because they expect lots of other players to drop in the same area or want to explore elsewhere. In that case, they can choose to drop on their own path, but it’s highly recommended that the team sticks together if they want a chance at the win.

Simply put, You drop in a huge map with your team, collect items to defend yourself, and become the last man standing to win the match. Apex Legends comes close to games like Fortnite and PUBG: Battlegrounds in terms of gameplay.

Valorant vs Apex Legends: Visuals

Valorant

Valorant falls short of the visual splendor of today’s games, mainly because the developer’s focus was never graphics. Expect anime-like cartoonish graphics when you boot up Valorant. The game has low minimum requirements, and it is a CPU-intensive game. This means Valorant can easily work on a potato PC or a last-generation laptop.

This allows a large demographic of low-budget gamers to play Valorant. The game’s focus is mainly tactical gameplay and using strategies to gain the upper hand over your enemies. So, if you’re planning on playing Valorant for the visuals, then it’s best to avoid it.

I play Valorant on the highest settings at 1440p resolution; it gives around 200 – 300 FPS on my computer (Ryzen 5 3500x, RTX 3060, 16GB DDR4), while any other game from 2020 would give me 60 – 100 FPS with everything set to the max. Hence, we can conclude that Valorant is highly optimized but lacks realism in visuals.

Apex Legends

As far as visual effects for Apex Legends are concerned, the game doesn’t outperform Valorant. The graphics aren’t jaw-dropping or realistic, such as in COD: Warzone.

The game has a cartoonish tone same as Valorant, yet the graphics requirements are a bit higher than Valorant. The game gives significantly lower FPS on the highest setting, while the gameplay is smooth with the graphics set to low.

The explosion and fire visual effects are amazing, especially the thermite grenades. The game has higher graphics requirements than Valorant, mainly because the map of Apex Legends is much larger than Valorant, so they have to account for the draw distance and rendering far away objects.

If you are looking for smoother gameplay, make sure to tune to medium-high or low-medium graphic settings.

Valorant Vs Apex Legends: Lore

Valorant

The First Light is the in-game event that paved the way for the events of Valorant. The First Light occurred in the year 2039. Because of this, Radianite, a strange element, was developed that gave superpowers to humans and turned them into the agents we chose in the game.

Soon after the occurrence of “The First Light,” the Kingdom corporation was formed to extract the power of Radianite. Over time, the Kingdom discovered how to harness Radianite’s power for the benefit of humankind. As well as that, they utilized Radianite to develop weapons and technologies to rule over the world.

Kingdom, armed with its technological superiority and its vast supplies of Radianite, is the antagonist in the game. The Valorant Protocol was created to shut down Kingdom corporation. Agents from all across the world banded together to form the VALORANT Protocol, a secretive organization based on Alpha Earth that was established in the wake of First Light.

Their job is to prevent any catastrophes that may be caused by Radianite from occurring. As the Protocol’s first two agents and founding members, Brimstone and Viper respectively took the roles of leader and second-in-command.

Every match of Valorant comprises agents from Kingdom Corporation and the Valorant Protocol combating each other to blow up or protect the map sites. Riot regularly posts Valorant lore and story progression on the Valorant YouTube Channel, so you can subscribe and stay updated with Valorant lore.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends is set in a futuristic world where a group of powerful corporations known as the Syndicate has colonized and terraformed the planet of Solace. The game follows the stories of a group of characters known as Legends, each with their own unique abilities and backstories, as they compete in the Apex Games, a battle royale tournament held on Solace.

Apex Legends is an extension of the Titanfall series; hence its storyline intertwines with the original games. All identifying information, such as names, maps, and organizations, are shared by Apex Legends, Titanfall, and Titanfall 2. Kings Canyon, a planetoid in Solace, was the original site of the Apex Games.

The games likely began sometime after the arena was completed in 2728. The participants of Apex Games are diverse in terms of history, skills, and motivation for competing.

Some of the motivations are admirable, while others compete just for the thrill of the kill or the glorification of violence. You can find backstories of legends and stories from the outlands on the Apex Legends YouTube Channel.

Valorant Vs Apex Legends: Characters

Valorant

Valorant is a competitive shooting game played between two teams of five players each. There are two sides to each game; Attackers and Defenders; each team has to play halves on each side. There are 20 different agents that you must choose from when the match begins. Each Agent carries four unique abilities.

When a new round begins, in addition to purchasing weaponry, you’ll also have to purchase the abilities of the chosen Agent. The game’s equivalent of Apex Legends’ “Legends” are called “Agents” in Valorant. There are 20 available Agents, but you won’t have access to them all right away. You have to gain XP or purchase the battle pass to unlock every Agent.

Each Agent has three abilities and an ultimate ability. Every round, you may use your signature skill for free, although there is a cooldown on it. You have to purchase other skills in the buy phase at the round start, while there are a variety of methods to replenish the ultimate ability, such as via kills, deaths, spike plants, and so on.

There are nine ranks total in Valorant, namely: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Ascendant, Immortal, and Radiant. You level up or down depending on a match, win or lose, and your performance in the game.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends has 19 unique legends to pick from. Each legend has three skills, including one ultimate (just like Valorant). The way you utilize these abilities gives you the upper hand on your enemies because every player in the game is given the same opportunity, with the only difference being the legend and their powers.

The game also heavily depends on finding the right gear to make a big impact on your enemies. You can drop in hot zones to get higher-level armor and weapons to defend yourself from enemies.

While some people directly engage in all-out combat soon after dropping, this strategy won’t take them far, as the game relies on more than just spraying and praying; it requires stocking on appropriate equipment and taking your enemies down strategically to become the last team standing.

Apex Legends has six different tiers for ranked matches: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Apex Predator. Unlike Valorant, the Apex Legends tier system works backwards, meaning that Diamond III is a higher rank than Diamond I.

Valorant Vs Apex Legends: Community

Valorant

Valorant is currently available only for Windows OS; this is why the community is less than Apex, which makes keeping the players in check extremely easy for Riot. Valorant uses the Vanguard Anti-cheat tool to keep the game just and fair. The tool is great at catching players that use unfair means to get an advantage over other players.

The game does suffer from a smurf* issue which is no less than cheating, which is why Riot is taking measures to ensure that new IDs are checked extra carefully to assign a rank to that player.

Valorant penalizes heavily for being AFK, toxic to other players, cheating, and sabotaging your team. Remember to snitch your friends if they’re being toxic!

And try not to get caught yourself.

*Smurf -> A high-ranked player who gets matched with low-ranked players by making a new ID. This gives the smurf a benefit over low-ranked players as they are new to the game.

Apex Legends

This difference is worth mentioning because Apex Legends has a high influx of cheaters compared to Valorant. While Apex Legends utilizes the famous ‘Easy Anti-Cheat’ tool, many cheaters are using third-party applications to cheat in the game.

Apex Legends had a huge influx of gamers on all platforms since they announced a cross-platform feature, allowing gamers on different platforms to get matched with each other. Moreover, the launch of Apex Legends on smartphones revived traffic in the servers.

Valorant Vs Apex Legends: E-Sports

Valorant

Some viewers like to watch Battle Royale games, while some enjoy watching their favorite team compete in a competitive shooter. However, when we examine the data, a distinct picture emerges.

While Apex Legends and Valorant are extremely popular amongst viewers and hold large esports pool prizes, Apex Legends has a slight edge over Valorant. The Valorant Champions Tour finals in 2022 attracted around 1.5 million peak views, setting a new record for Valorant.

By 2022, the largest prize pool in Valorant will have reached $1 million, while in Apex Legends, the ALGS: 2022 Championship has included prize pools of $2 million. [Source]. The reason why Valorant has more peak views than Apex Legends is that many major streamers participated in the Champions Tour.

Apex Legends

Since its release in February 2019, Apex Legends has seen a meteoric rise in player popularity. It has amassed a huge fan base among gamers, with more active players than many popular BR games. Apex Legends’ gameplay, plot, and character designs have all received high marks from critics. The game has established itself as a staple of the Esports landscape, with year-round leagues and big events.

Apex Legends’ aggressive and exciting matches have made it a fan favorite. The peak viewership Apex Legends got was in February 2019, when it reached 678,000 views [Source].

Which Is Better Overall and Why?

Valorant and Apex Legends are extremely popular MOBA games. While some might consider both of them to be a bit similar since they both have special characters with unique abilities to choose from, in reality, they are quite different from one another.

Apex Legends is a Battle Royale game in which a part of max three people compete on a huge map to become the last people standing. On the other hand, Valorant is a 5v5 competitive multiplayer shooter in which two teams of 5 players each compete to plant or defuse a spike (bomb) on assigned sites.

Apex Legends was released earlier than Valorant, having a larger prize pool in esports, and while Valorant was released much later after Apex Legends, it is still garnering more concurrent players than Apex Legends.

Choosing the best game between Apex Legends and Valorant is completely player-dependent. For those looking for intense gunplay akin to CS: GO, Valorant may be the way to go, while Apex Legends is the best choice for fans of more of a Fortnite-style Battle Royale Game. Both games are amazing in their particular genres.

Since I am not a fan of Battle Royale games, I consider Valorant to be the better game, in which you have to strategize more on-site infiltration, guns, abilities, purchasing economy, faking, rotation, and much more.

Best Alternatives

Here are some of the best alternatives to Valorant and Apex Legends:

Valorant

• CS: GO
• Overwatch
• League of Legends
• Dota 2
• Team Fortress 2
• Quake 3

Apex Legends

• PUBG: Battlegrounds
• Fortnite
• Call of Duty: Warzone
• Rainbow Six Siege

FAQs

My Thoughts

Valorant and Apex Legends are fairly recent games in an already competitive genre, yet they have both managed to gain a lot of attention from gamers.

I have played both of these games, and I think that each game is a master in their particular genre. If you’re a battle royale fan, then Apex Legends will definitely be fun for you. On the other hand, if a competitive tactical shooter is more your cup of tea, then Valorant takes the cake.

To sum up, the two games couldn’t be more unlike each, yet they each have their own unique qualities that keep fans coming back for more, so choose your poison, gather your friends and let’s step into the battlefield!