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Valorant is set to introduce its Episode 4 Act 1 - Disruption with Patch 4.0, scheduled to be out on January 11, 2022.
Following previous trends, Episode 4 Act 1 arrives with a new Agent - Neon, the latest Battlepass, various changes to gameplay, and a brand new line of skins. Protocol 781-A is an upcoming skin collection that Valorant's community is excited about.
Protocol 781-A is available as an Ultra-Edition (UE) Tier bundle, priced at 9900 VP for the entire collection. The bundle features skins for the following 5 weapons:
- Personal Administrative Melee Unit (melee)
- Protocol 781-A Phantom
- Protocol 781-A Spectre
- Protocol 781-A Bulldog
- Protocol 781-A Sheriff
Valorant developers who are credited for working on the skin collection gave their thoughts on the concepts that inspired the birth of Protocol 781-A.
Valorant devs cite Glitchpop as inspiration for Protocol 781-A collection
Preeti Khanolkar, Senior Producer at Riot Games, gave her thoughts on the development team's goals behind designing the bundle. She compared the bundle with popular previously released bundles with the same theme:
"With Protocol 781-A, our goal was to create a sci-fi skin like that would be very appealing but unlike any other sci-fi skins we’d created so far. So, not clean and futuristic like Ion, not otherworldly like Singularity, and not fun and colorful like Glitchpop. Instead, we wanted something dystopian that wouldn’t feel grungy or dirty."
Riot Games describes Protocol 781-A as a dystopian, dark sci-fi themed bundle with robotic elements that give it a high-tech appearance.
Ion, Singularity and Glitchpop are existing collections of skins in Valorant that share a futuristic theme similar to Protocol 781-A, but have a different note of appeal.
Sean Marino, Associate Art Director at Riot Games, emphasizes the role of Glitchpop in the creation of Valorant's Protocol 781-A bundle:
"Initially, the idea for Protocol 781-A came from an old concept of a weapon that transforms and is more function-before-form. Something utilitarian, high-grade, and professional. Basically, the other side of Glitchpop; something darker and more controlling."
Sean Marino talks about the functionality and design of the Protocol 781-A collection. He adds on, saying:
"Early on, we also toyed with the idea that Glitchpop and Protocol could exist in the same world, where Glitchpop is used by the underground rebel types and Protocol 781-A is the government response to controlling that chaos, or vice versa."
Sean Marino draws reference to the lore behind the Protocol 781-A collection. In the trailer Riot Games released for the collection, we get to see a sight similar to what Sean Marino describes.
The Glitchpop collection makes an appearance in the trailer, before getting annihilated by the mechanical bots associated with Protocol 781-A's storyline.
Although Valorant enthusiasts can only get a glance at the bundle so far, players will be able to get their hands on Protocol 781-A in a few days' time. The bundle awaits its release on January 11, 2022 alongside Patch 4.0.
