Valorant to have a dedicated coach slot in the future

Valorant’s development team has officially addressed the competitive community’s persistent request for dedicated coaching functionality, confirming that upcoming party size adjustments will incorporate a sixth position specifically for strategic analysis during matches.

Riot Games’ precision tactical shooter maintains a strict five-versus-five competitive format. The current ten-person lobby system prevents additional observers from monitoring gameplay directly, unlike established FPS titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that support spectator modes. Once matches commence, competitors operate independently within the intense 5v5 environment without external guidance.

Recent technical insights from Valorant developer tehleach highlighted that expanding party capacities beyond five participants requires substantial client-side engineering work. The existing framework restricts lobbies to exactly ten slots, which simultaneously limits new game mode development and prevents mid-match participant additions. This architectural constraint significantly affects professional competition dynamics, as coaches, analysts, and other essential team staff cannot directly observe match proceedings.

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NRG’s strategic coach Chet “Chet” Singh publicly identified critical areas needing improvement within Valorant, with dedicated coaching access ranking among his top priorities.

List of things that need fixing or adding in Valorant IMO:

1) Changes to Bucky, frenzy, and stinger (price or stats or both)

2) adjustments to Net Code (favors wide swinging atm)

3) coach slot + replay system

4) no voice ban people in ranked

5) lower OP price a little

— NRG Chet (@chetsingh)
February 14, 2021

His assessment quickly gained support from NRG professional competitor Sam “s0m” Oh, who emphasized that cosmetic content additions should take lower priority than implementing crucial competitive features like coach observation capabilities. Notably, Valorant’s development team responded directly to the professional coach’s feedback, confirming that a sixth spectator slot is currently in active development.

Esports strategy specialist Riley Yurk expressed enthusiasm about coaches gaining more substantial roles within professional match environments.

hope it’s not a surprise but coach slots are on the way. we’re excited for coaches to be a bigger part of matches.

— Riley Yurk (@rileyurk)
February 23, 2021

Despite being a relatively recent entry to the competitive gaming landscape, Valorant has rapidly evolved into a fully-fledged esports discipline over recent months. Premier competitions including the Valorant Champions Tour and First Strike have attracted major esports organizations to establish competitive rosters.

Valorant teams currently maintain highly refined player lineups overseen by coaching staff. However, these strategic leaders must currently employ improvised methods like live stream monitoring and secondary observation techniques to analyze match dynamics. Chet additionally highlighted the importance of replay system implementation as another vital component for professional teams to refine their tactical approaches. The absence of both replay functionality and direct coach observation makes strategic development considerably more challenging. Implementing an official in-game observation position will not only provide technical advantages for competitive squads but also elevate Valorant’s developing esports ecosystem.

While no specific launch timeline has been announced for the coach slot feature, indications suggest imminent implementation as developers experiment with party configurations and new gameplay modes, as discussed during a recent developer Q&A session.

The introduction of coach observation capabilities represents a significant evolution in Valorant’s competitive infrastructure. Professional teams will gain real-time strategic oversight capabilities similar to traditional sports coaching, enabling immediate feedback and tactical adjustments during matches. This development aligns Valorant more closely with established esports titles while addressing a critical gap in its competitive feature set. For aspiring competitive players, understanding how to leverage coaching insights can dramatically accelerate skill development and strategic understanding.

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