Black Swan and Howl's Moving Castle inspired Valorant's Forsaken cosmetic line

Riot Games recently confirmed the Forsaken skin bundle in Valorant with the Episode 2 Act 3 update on April 27th.

The Forsaken skin bundle in Valorant (Image via Riot Games)

The “dark, edgy, and ultimately tragic” skin bundle, as described by Valorant’s Art Leak, Sean Marino, features a dark and corrupt vibe with stunning visuals.

The Forsaken skin bundle features five assorted skins for various weapons in Valorant. These are all the weapons that will have a Forsaken skin available after the update on April 27th:

• Vandal;
• Spectre;
• Classic;
• Forsaken Ritual Blade (melee);
• Operator.

The developers have kept no secret regarding the inspiration behind the Forsaken skin bundle in Valorant.

Concept Art for the Forsaken skins in Valorant (Image via Riot Games)

Here’s what Valorant’s Art Lead, Sean Marino, and Senior Producer Preeti Khanolkar had to say about the inspiration behind the Forsaken skin bundle’s design in Valorant.

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Developers reveal inspiration behind Forsaken skin bundle in Valorant

When asked about the inspiration or notable concepts that might have led to the conception of the Forsaken skin in Valorant, Sean Marino spoke at length about the exact thoughts and ideas that the artists had for this bundle:

“We really loved Sovereign as a thematic and had built some loose “skin lore” around the theme when designing that original skin. We imagined a world where a bird-like race ruled a kingdom in the clouds, with the royal family’s guard using the Sovereign guns (instead of swords) to protect them.”

He added:

“We asked ourselves what would happen if one of those guards broke his oath, became corrupted, and was then banished. With that story in our minds, we approached Forsaken to be the dark side of Sovereign, which meant it was still beautiful and delicate like Sovereign, but dark, edgy, and ultimately tragic.”

Various kill banners available with the Forsaken skins in Valorant (Image via Riot Games)

Following this, Preeti talked about how the skins were also inspired by movies like Black Swan and Howl’s Moving Castle:

“Natalie Portman’s character goes through a transformation during the movie but remains delicate and elegant despite her madness. And likewise, Howl transforms into a dark bird-like creature, but retains his graceful beauty.”

These factors played a significant role as the inspiration behind the enthralling Forsaken skin bundle in Valorant. Judging by how good these weapons look in still images, many in the community will be looking to grab them as soon as they release on April 27th with Valorant’s Episode 2 Act 3.