VALORANT and Zedd partner on Spectrum, game’s first audio-driven skin line

Dustin Steiner

Dustin Steiner

Zedd and Riot have partnered on a new line of skins called Spectrum – among the most expensive and dynamic in the game.

Riot has once again partnered with Zedd, but it's not for a song this time. Now it's for a skin line in VALORANT, their hit FPS title, and they're hoping to knock another set out of the park with this line.

Called the Spectrum skin line, it's one of Valorant's most expensive line of skins. The skin line is named after a Zedd song called Spectrum which was released back in 2012.

“For Spectrum, we worked backward—with audio first, VFX second, and model last,” said Chris Stone, senior weapons artist for VALORANT. “This required us to slightly rethink how we typically produce skins but also was a fun challenge for the team that allowed us to develop the best skin possible.”

Zedd is actually an Immortal ranked player himself, which explains why he was so keen on making his own skin line. This isn't the first time he's flirted with the idea of skin though - for the Overwatch League 2019 finals, he fashioned his own skin to be used exclusively during his performance. Blizzard never took advantage of this and put it in the game, however.

“The very first time I got my hands on VALORANT, I pretty much stopped playing all other games. It was the perfect combination of my favorite games,” Zedd said. “When I was younger I was obsessed with Counter-Strike, and in recent years I played loads of Overwatch, but felt like the room for ‘clutch’ moments just wasn’t there. When I heard about VALORANT, I thought it could combine my love for abilities with the high-consequence gameplay of a game like Counter-Strike.”

What's included in the Zedd Spectrum bundle?

The Spectrum bundle includes skins for the Phantom, Classic, Bulldog, and Waveform Melee. The base version of each skin includes the custom model and the ADS reticle that changes colors. Level two adds a custom muzzle flash and firing audio, and the muzzle flash changes color when you move around the map. Next, level 3 adds equip and reload sound effects, as well as accent colors that change when you move. Finally, level four adds a kill banner and finisher, which are two of the most exciting additions in the skin line. The finisher creates a Zedd and VALORANT logo above the killed player, shrouding the area in a colorful experience reminiscent of a nightclub. The finisher changes colors based on where it spawns and is slightly different if the bomb still needs to be defused when activated.

The bundle also includes a Spectrum gun buddy, Zedd gun buddy, Spectrum Player card, and spectrum spray.

The Spectrum bundle costs 10,700 VP or $99.99, if you buy the highest tier of Valorant points available.