Competitive gaming can be time-consuming. Valorant is no exception. When you are limited on time, it’s great to know how long you will be gaming to plan ahead. So if you are about to get into Valorant and are wondering how long is a Valorant game, I got you.
Valorant Match Length (Unrated/Competitive)
Note: The following section describes the Unrated and Competitive game modes of Valorant. Those are the longest ones. Quick modes like Deathmatch, Escalation, or Spike Rush will be described later on.
Let’s break down the match itself first. Both Competitive and Unrated game modes are played as a best of 25 rounds. This means the first team to win 13 rounds wins. You can expect that, in general, games in Valorant will be shorter than, for example, in CS:GO, where you play the best of 30.
Unrated/Competitive Match (No Overtimes)
Below you will find timings for all the stages of the game, including agent pick, buy phase, etc. Those timings are the same for both Unrated and Competitive.
- Agent Pick: 85 seconds
- Buy Phase (Half start): 45 seconds
- Buy Phase: 30 seconds
- Rounds Length: 1:40 minutes
- Spike Timer: 40 seconds
On average, you can expect a regular game of Valorant to last around 35-40 minutes.
Competitive Valorant Game Length (With Overtimes)
But here’s the catch: in patch 1.03, Riot Games introduced such thing as overtime for competitive games. If you tied 12-12, the game moves to the 2-round win overtime. The team has to win 2 rounds consequently to win. If it doesn’t happen, both teams are presented to the vote to continue or finish the game as a draw. If the game continues, then that Valorant game can be played for a very long time.
The overtime theoretically can last forever, but with the current voting system, the reasonable maximum is three overtimes, thus extra 6 rounds.
- 1st overtime – required
- 2nd overtime – vote (6 votes to call a draw)
- 3rd overtime – vote (3 votes to call a draw)
- 4th+ overtime – vote (1 vote to call draw)
That brings us to 50-60 minutes of a competitive match in Valorant with overtime.
Early Finish
Of course, there is a chance of an early finish of the game. If someone disconnects at the beginning of the match it can be remade. Throughout the game any team can also surrender their Valorant match for different reasons: the match went one-sided, multiple players left, the team lacks morals, etc. Even those one-sided games when you dominate (or get dominated) 13:0 can wrap up as quickly as 20 minutes, without early surrender.
Valorant Deathmatch/Escalation/Spike Rush Length
There are shorter game modes in Valorant as well, they are fun to p[lay and don’t take much of your time. There are three of those game modes at the moment: Deathmatch, Escalation, Spike Rush. Any of these game modes will take a maximum of 15 minutes of your time. That’s definitely a good option if you are on a “time budget.”
Related Article: When to Use the Raw Input Buffer in Valorant
Deathmatch
Deathmatch is free for all PvP game with no rounds, no teams, and no respawn delays. You spawn randomly on a map, pick a weapon of your choice and get to killing. The first to get 40 kills or score the most points by the end of the game wins.
As you can see, there is a time limit, the game will not run forever. Deathmatch starts with a 1:30 minutes warmup and then 10 minutes of the actual game. The maximum amount length of the Deathmatch is 11:30 minutes.
Deathmatch can finish early if one gets 40 kills, but usually, it happens in the last few minutes, so keep in mind those eleven and a half minutes.
Escalation
This is a Valorant’s version of the Arms Race. You got two teams, and you level up your weapons by getting kills. There are a few more fun things, like snowball launchers and Raze RPGs, but let’s leave that for now.
Escalation also has a 1:30 min warmup for the players to connect and load, and then you play for 12 minutes. The team can also win early by getting enough kills on the last weapon, but that’s unlikely to happen early. So you can expect an Escalation game in Valorant to last as long as 13:30 minutes.
Spike Rush
This is the most unusual mode in Valorant. Regular 5v5 but with set weapons for every round and power-ups scattered across the map. This mode aims to be as fast as possible. You got:
- Agent pick: 85 seconds
- Buy phase: 20 seconds
- Round: 1:20- minutes
- Spike: 20 seconds
Each game is a best of 7 with sudden death. So the team who first wins 4 rounds wins the game. Even with all 7 rounds played, the game of Spike Rush will barely exceed 10 minutes.
F.A.Q.s on Valorant Match Duration
On average, a full Valorant match will last anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how quickly each individual round goes.
Valorant matches are usually shorter than CS:GO matches. This is just one of the many differences you can find in comparing Valorant vs CSGO. CS:GO matches are played for the best of 30 rounds, while Valorant matches are played for the best of 25 rounds.
Yes, there are! Deathmatch, Escalation, and Spike Rush are all very fun challenge game modes that don’t take as long as a typical Valorant game. In fact, they usually take only half as long as a typical Valorant game does.
Well, besides surrendering or throwing the game completely, the best option is to get better at Valorant. In that way, you can dominate your matches and help your team win faster. Close matches take the longest to resolve, especially if they go into overtime.
What to Do if You Only Have Free Approximately as Long as a Valorant Game Is
I just want to say that if for some reason you have a limited amount of time available to a game (you have to go somewhere or your parents set you a limit), don’t risk playing unrated/competitive if you barely fit the timeslot for how long a Valorant game is.
For example, you have 30 minutes to play and are thinking of playing competitively. You never know where the game will go, and if you are unlucky, a Valorant match can go on for a long time. That may result in an angry mom, boss, and a penalty for abandoning the match.
Stick to something quick and easy, like Escalation. I had big fun playing it when writing down timings for this guide, so you should try it too. And most importantly, have fun.
For more insights into playing Valorant, feel free to check out our guide on what CT means in Valorant as well as our in-depth review of the best knife skins in Valorant.
