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Did Riot Games Just Copy The New VALORANT Weapon Skin Bundle From A Filipino Artist?


Riot Games recently released a new VALORANT skin bundle called Gaia's Vengeance, which consist of mystical and magical weapon skins “born of the magical woods”. The new bundle was made available after Riot launched Episode 4, Act 2, and members of the Reddit community notice that the new bundle's design looks similar to a skin concept shared by a user on the VALORANT Subreddit.

Gaia's Vengence VALORANT weapon skins
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Credit: Riot Games/ KuyaSerge
Gaia's Vengence VALORANT weapon skins

Multiple Redditors pointed out that the Gaia's Vengeance skin bundle seems like a ripoff of a skin concept shared almost a year ago with the same name and practically the same skin design

Did Riot Games copy this concept art with the latest VALORANT skin bundle?

Redditor and Filipino artist u/KuyaSerge shared his original skin concept called The Gaia Collection, and users on Reddit immediately recognized the similarities of the Gaia's Vengeance bundle to his creation. Even the melee's ax design looks familiar. However, there's a bit of a difference when it comes to the guns included. In the artist's concept, the collection comes with what appears to be the Spectre, Shorty, Vandal and Operator; However, VALORANT's Gaia's Vengeance consists of Vandal, Guardian, Marshal, and Ghost.

Gaia's Collection VALORANT
click to enlarge
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Credit: KuyaSerge
Gaia's Collection VALORANT

The artist's concept drew attention almost a year ago, and VALORANT enthusiasts were surprised that he was just happy to have his concept gain recognition. KuyaSerge even wrote that he will not take any legal action, and that he would love any recognition fro Riot Games and any opportunity to design for their games.

Riot Games is not known for ripping off players, so hopefully, this is just a huge misunderstanding.

VALORANT senior producer Preeti Khanolkar explained how the game's developers designed the Gaia’s Vengeance bundle and decided on the fresh tone for the new weapon skins. 

“We could have made a skin line based on a forest theme and taken it in a lot of directions, but the team found this really wonderful blend of mysterious, magical, intricate, and powerful,” Khanolkar said. “We named the skin after we’d completed work on it, so at that point we really felt its balance of elegance and danger—a kind of haunting beauty."

Twitter user @SagengBuhay also pointed out their uncanny resemblance:

Related: VALORANT Mobile Release Date, Gameplay, Trailer & Everything You Need to Know

Associate art director Sean Marino revealed that the new bundle was originally going to be released without any equip, inspect, or reload animations, but the developers realized the potential the new skins had and delayed its release to work on a "more ambitious idea."

The Gaia's Vengeance bundle is now available in the VALORANT store for 7,100 VP.

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