The Valorant is as popular as ever even in its closed-beta phase. However, the COVID-19 has brought connection problems to players.
Valorant is still in its closed-beta testing phase, but it’s already receiving positive reviews from players. Unfortunately, beta testers are experiencing connectivity issues, and it’s not something the game developers can necessarily fix.
What does a high ping mean in a game?
For online games, ping is what makes or breaks the players’ gaming experience. Ping basically refers to internet latency. It is the time it takes for the network connection to register commands through an online game’s server.
In online games where the connection is everything, having a high ping means that the network is not responding well to commands and actions executed by players. It is a sign that there is a problem with an online connection.
There are a number of reasons that could cause high ping in games. The first one is having a large number of active users sharing the same network and server. Background applications also steal away some connectivity from a game. Having many applications running in the background can cause ping to go up. Wireless connections also do not bring the same quality connection as wired ones do.
COVID-19 and the high ping problem in Valorant
A significant number of beta-testers are complaining of a high ping problem in Valorant. This had affected their gaming experience negatively, and some aren’t even able to access the game because of this.
@PlayVALORANT getting high ping after new patch pic.twitter.com/FpctRhZbg6
— Eslam (@zzeslamzz) May 3, 2020
Riot Games, recently, posted a development update regarding Valorant and addressed the high ping problem. According to the post, the COVID-19 is mostly responsible for the game’s high ping.
With so many people stuck at home turning to games, there has been a big increase in Internet traffic. This has affected connectivity and latency in Valorant, and sadly, there’s nothing much that Riot can do to fix the problem.
However, they’re still trying the best they can. The post read:
“The Riot Direct team has been working tirelessly to make sure we have the connectivity we need in place as soon as possible to meet our latency targets. What we’re still dealing with is how internet service providers are dealing with the increase in network traffic – many of which have to load balance by routing connections all over the place. As we mentioned, this is something we’re actively tackling, but continues to be a challenge day over day, especially with much higher than expected traffic.”
How you can help fix the high ping problem
While there isn’t really a “magic” fix for high ping, there are ways you can improve the game’s latency. Improving your internet connection would be a good start.
One of the best ways to improve your internet connection is by upgrading your internet plan. If such a thing is beyond your financial capabilities, you can also try optimizing router settings or limiting the active number of connections on your network.
Another thing you can do is to prioritize Valorant in the task manager and restrict downloads and applications running in the background.
Doing this would ensure most of the connection is directed towards Valorant for a more enjoyable and streamlined gaming experience.
Images courtesy Valorant/Facebook (1) and Webaroo/Unsplash (2)