Three weeks after the game's official launch, VALORANT's ranked mode went live. While in Closed Beta, VALORANT had a ranked mode that was unavailable when the game launched on June 2nd. Players all over the world can finally queue up for a competitive mode and learn their rank, from Iron to Radiant.

Officially known as "Competitive," VALORANT's ranked queue was due for a release earlier this month but was delayed thanks to a number of recent bugs. One of the more game breaking bugs even allowed players to occasionally spawn in the enemy's spawn point, essentially giving them a free Omen ult before the round even started. The dev team has been hard at work troubleshooting those situations and has finally stabilized the game enough to push ranked mode through.

Senior VALORANT Producer, Ian "Brighteyz" Fielding, explains the launch of Competitive and other new VALORANT features in detail in his dev post here, such as pre-made teams, placement matches, balancing player skill, and what to expect in the future. You'll be able to play placements with friends, even if they've already received a Competitive Rank, as long as they aren't too different from your skill level. 

Despite not having an official ranked mode available for VALORANT until today, teams have already formed with "pro players," and tournaments have been underway since early in the Beta and official launch. Additionally, Riot recently announced the beginning of VALORANT's esports scene, the VALORANT Ignition Series, and the first official tournaments happened last weekend. One pro was even accused of match fixing and buying a cheat, was investigated, and eventually cleared by Riot - all before Competitive ever launched. 

So get ready to find out where in the ladder you stand, but make sure to play a warm up game before you do! Radiant awaits, but so does Iron. 

For more VALORANT news and content, check out our dedicated VALORANT page here.