I tried the new Valorant e-dating website, and I think I'm scarred for life

Let’s roleplay (no, not like that) a scenario in Valorant. It’s a 1v5 on Haven site B. You’ve got a Phantom and a dream. You gun down one foe; not bad. A flick to the left, a second falls. A well timed dash takes out two more, but the remaining Radiant wraps around behind you and scores some hits. Your health is blinking; you Updraft out of the way (of course you’re playing Jett); Tailwind has reset with those last two kills. You go soaring over their head, landing behind them, executing the perfect kill. The team goes wild in the chat, but there’s one response that stands out above them all. Someone just said ‘UwU.’ It’s love at first sight, but in the middle of the action, how can you make your move?

That’s where RRedating comes in. Described as “a (totally not serious) community e-dating site,” you’ll be able to “find your e-date here so you stop dropping your ep 7 Immortal buddy in Swiftplay.” The system works like every other online dating site: you look through profiles and can either ‘pass’ or send your new Valorant e-kitten a request to chat.

In order to build out your profile you will need to provide your RiotID and tag, as well as your age and gender. From here, you’re asked which of the FPS game’s agents you play, what your primary role is, and your peak/current Valorant rank – LARPing as a Radiant is strictly forbidden, so don’t even try it.

Creator ‘JDawesome23’ stresses that the website is for over 18s only (we’ve all seen what the Valorant LFG Discord server looks like), and that it is in no way affiliated with Riot Games. It’s also worth noting that RRedating has gone down once before, but, per JDawesome23, there have been “many, many bug fixes and the site should be much smoother and look a lot better.”

Now, I consider myself to be quite the daring journalist – I will die for my screenshots, and by proxy my art. As a woman, I wondered how quickly my inbox would start to fill up with requests despite my lack of profile picture or any real details, and after just a few minutes on the website I had, indeed, acquired a “duo request.” As someone who is very happy in her relationship, I chose to decline this Immortal 1 suitor – GG go next.

A second one, aptly entitled ‘King Gooner,’ has also come through within an hour of my joining the site. Unfortunately, I cannot do a backflip, therefore fail the baseline relationship criteria set out in his bio. This was quickly followed by a third request, with this profile actually having a non-meme photo, and a fourth whose picture is Sentinels streamer and Valorant icon Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo. Less than an hour in I already had four Duo Requests – one from a world-renowned esports player – despite my lack of photo and no information on my profile. I guess I’ll take the compliment.

It’s also interesting to check out the demographics of the people using the site. Per the RRedating Discord, there are 80 males to 20 females, with six players classifying themselves as another gender. Most players seem to be aged between 18 and 21 (73 respondents), with between 22 and 25 being the second-biggest group (49 respondents), with over 26, symbolized with an old man emoji, coming in last. There are only 13 responses there, 14 if I decided to react, but for my own mental health, I’m just not going to.

The first iteration of RRedating apparently saw over 9,000 players sign up, which is no mean feat. For better or worse, Valorant and romance truly do seem to go hand-in-hand; I chatted to the developers of Amorant, a real Valorant dating sim inspired by the Agents of Romance April Fool’s joke back in 2021, late last year.

Do I love the idea that Valorant has become somewhat of an e-dating marketplace? X for doubt. But I do like watching communities have fun. RRedating probably won’t be the next Tinder, and as long as it isn’t taken too seriously (I think we’re probably good in that department) and no one gets hurt, I’m all for it. So go forth: find the Chamber to your Viper, or the Raze to your Killjoy. Then, you’ll finally be able to have your own His/Her duo accounts – life goal, complete.