Valorant game director Joe Ziegler is leaving to work on "something new" at Riot

(Image credit: Riot)

Valorant game director, Joe Ziegler, is leaving to head up a new project at Riot Games.

In a statement posted to the official website, Ziegler confirmed he was leaving the game after eight years and passing the reins over to fellow Rioter, Andy Ho.

"After eight years of working on Valorant, building it from the ground up with a team of dedicated and passionate developers who’ve worked tirelessly to serve you all with the respect and admiration that you deserve, I am giving up the mantle of game director of the Valorant tac-shooter to my good friend, Andy Ho," Ziegler wrote.

"Andy is someone who I am proud to say has put many years of his own into Valorant, and whose personal dedication to deliver to the highest standards inspires all who work with him. He has my full faith and trust that he will continue to grow and evolve Valorant year-over-year to become even better than what I could imagine it to be. As for me, I’ll be starting something new (*wink, secrets…) in the hopes that we can even scratch the surface of the amazing impact Valorant has already had so far."

He finished up by reminding fans that "[he'll] not be far from the game and the team and they’ll always have [his] support".

"Thank you to everyone who has supported and continues to support Valorant, and a special shout out to all who've supported me and my work. You’ve made my time as your game director a truly joyous and memorable experience," he concluded.

There was no further information on what Ziegler's new role entails, but suffice to say, he's working on "something new" at the studio. Let's watch this space, eh?

Did you know Riot Games now records Valorant voice chat in a bid to combat toxicity? Earlier this year, in an update to the studio's privacy policy, Riot confirmed it would review voice chat recordings "when disruptive voice behavior is reported" but promised it wouldn't actively eavesdrop on players' conversations. For those wanting to avoid the risk, however, they have to turn off voice chat completely.

"We want all of our games to be safe and inclusive for everyone who chooses to play them," Riot Games said in that update to its privacy policy. "We know disruptive behavior using our voice chat is a concern for a lot of players, and we're committed to addressing it more effectively.

"In order for us to take action against players who use voice comms to harass others, use hate speech, or otherwise disrupt your experience, we need to know what those players are saying. Which is why, moving forward, we'll need the ability to analyze voice data."