VALORANT fans call out Riot for character accent mistakes in multiple languages

From German to Norwegian, it can sound a bit odd.

Killjoy Deadlock
Screenshot via Riot Games

Fans are always excited about a new agent release in VALORANT, especially because it gives them a new character to understand and use in ranked play. But, over the course of the international scope of VALORANT’s cast of agents, fans are calling out how some of their lore-specific native languages sound a little strange.

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From older agents like Reyna and Killjoy, to the reveal of Deadlock on June 24, agents represent their home nations while fighting for their causes. While some accents are good enough, others are just off enough for fans to bring attention to them.

It all started on Reddit, with talks about Killjoy and her German accent. The original post states the German she speaks clearly sounds like an American-speaking German. VALORANT player Schiiisch, who made the thread, also states the German “in general is not… bad, but as she is supposed to be German, why didn’t they ask someone who speaks actually German?”

Others chimed in on some of the other languages for other agents, mostly for localization for players in Spain or Latin America. According to one, for the Spanish-speaking version of VALORANT, each agent is voiced by a native-speaking Spanish actor mimicking the different accents of other regions. Due to it sounding “cringe,” most players just play the game in default English. It is allegedly the same in Polish, French, and more too.

Then, there are some comments about the newly-revealed Norwegian agent. According to another gamer, her accent was clear and similar to his own. As for the lines she had in Norwegian, they were “awfully written with lines no one would ever say.”

Related: VALORANT fans are obsessed with figuring out Deadlock’s surprising interaction with one character

Though, not everyone was bothered by Deadlock. There were comments about the most recent addition and her accent being relatively good. One player mentioned “My girlfriend is Norwegian and she thought the voice acting on the trailer was fine and couldn’t understand everyone’s complaints. Though, she did say it was written for the translations, if that makes sense.” Another chimed in to confirm that the VALORANT voice actor is indeed Norwegian and sounds fine, but it’s the written lines that make her sound odd.

Even if there are some dialects that sound weird in VALORANT, the reveal of Deadlock does signify improvements when it comes to Riot making its agents sound like they’re from specific regions, though there still is room for further upgrades.

Author
Image of Michael Czar
Michael Czar
Contributing writer for Dot Esports. Covering esports news for just over five years. Focusing on Overwatch, VALORANT, Call of Duty, Teamfight Tactics, and some general gaming content. Washington Post-published game reviewer. Follow me on Twitter at @xtraweivy.