Valorant is getting its first new gun in 4 years, a 'high impact, double-barreled sniper rifle'

valorant outlaw sniper rifle
(Image credit: Riot Games)

When new guns appear in Call of Duty, it's an occurrence so regular that you'd be forgiven for not even noticing. When Valorant gets a new gun, it's the biggest thing to happen in Riot's competitive FPS since launch. After almost four years, a new sniper rifle is on the block: the Outlaw, a double-barreled sniper that can two-shot enemies to the chest. It costs 2,400 credits, placing it between the economical Marshal (950)  and the one-shot-kill Operator (4,700).

At first glance, the Outlaw is the sort of quirky, antiquated firearm that'd feel at home in the mucky swamps of Hunt: Showdown more than the neo-future streets of Valorant, but its outdated design gives it a distinct role in Valorant's carefully curated weapon locker. It only packs two shots before a long reload, but those shots hit hard, and you can shoot twice without descoping. That's a potentially big deal for players who'd normally avoid the headshot-dependent Marshal. With the Outlaw, two body shots will get the job done.

As Valorant YouTuber AverageJonas pointed out in an early access look, the Outlaw will probably pair nicely with Duelist agents who specialize in hit-and-run maneuvers, like Jett and Chamber. AverageJonas also said the Outlaw has high bullet penetration, making it theoretically better at cheeky wallbangs than the Marshal.

So will an Outlaw be worth those 2,400 credits? That'll probably come down to how you feel about sniping in Valorant. It's interesting that the Outlaw isn't a straight middle step between the Marshal and Operator—it has its own thing going on with its unique two-tap firing pace—but I wonder if most players will still be more comfortable with the popular (and similarly priced) Vandal assault rifle. More experienced Valorant players than me can probably offer an example of a map/round scenario where the Outlaw is a potentially smart buy, though for 500 more creds I could get a Vandal, which can one-tap headshot on top of being more flexible at mid-to-close range.

The Valorant community tends to think primarily in terms of competitive viability, but another argument for the Outlaw's existence is that it looks fun to shoot. The boom of its high-caliber slug makes a statement as it crackles across the map, and unlike the other rifles in its category, one shot from the Outlaw means another one is coming immediately. Two-tap kills look satisfying and there's no better punctuation for a perfectly executed kill than the "thunk" of smoking shells leaping out a barrel. It's also just cool to see Riot (slowly) expand Valorant's weapon pool. I'm not sure why it's choosing now to do so, though it might have something to do with Valve's promise to add more guns to Counter-Strike 2.

I can't say I've seen long time players asking for more guns, but a new sniper rifle is a smart first experiment. Snipers are high-impact guns, and compared to CS2, it's a little weird that Valorant has only had two until now.

The Outlaw arrives with Valorant's Episode 8 Act 1 patch arriving January 9. 

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

Read more
marvel rivals
Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: 'sweaty' teamplay vs. casual fun
Fragpunk characters with weapon drawn
The latest big game on Steam is Fragpunk, or as I like to call it, 'kitchen-sink Counter-Strike'
overwatch 2 season 15 cosmetics
Overwatch 2 is getting radical changes that might finally help that '2' make sense, starting with a third-person mode and over 160 hero perks
The Finals
New to The Finals? These are the best weapons to unlock first
Hawkeye closeup
Marvel Rivals review
helldivers 2 killzone crossover
Defending a kinda wimpy Killzone crossover gun, Helldivers 2's Johan Pilestedt says the game's past balance woes were due to weapons being 'seen as game objects' and that 'balance doesn't matter'
Latest in FPS
Rainbow Six Siege year 9 season 2 key art - two Rainbow Six Siege operators facing each other
'Siege 2 was never on the table': Rainbow Six Siege X director explains why the 10-year-old FPS doesn't need a sequel
rainbow six siege sledge
After holding out for 10 years, Rainbow Six Siege is finally going free-to-play (kind of)
rainbow six siege x dual front mode
Rainbow Six Siege is getting its first permanent mode in 10 years, and it throws every Siege rule out the window
Fragpunk characters with weapon drawn
The latest big game on Steam is Fragpunk, or as I like to call it, 'kitchen-sink Counter-Strike'
spectre divide
Spectre Divide and its studio are shutting down after just six months: 'The industry is in a tough spot right now'
Masked Counter-Terrorist in helmet in forefront with sunglasses and beret-wearing CT in background touching headset
There's hope yet for Classic Offensive after its Steam rejection: The team behind the Counter-Strike 1.6 revival mod is in touch with Valve about its 'concerns'
Latest in News
Super Mario World
Super Nintendo consoles appear to be running ever-so-slightly faster as they age and speedrunning detectives are hot on the case
A photo of an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor surrounded by DDR5 memory sticks from Corsair, Kingston, and Lexar
Fresh leak suggests Intel's on-again-off-again Arrow Lake CPU refresh is back on the menu (boys)
A Colorful RTX 5080 and its box
Three lucky folks in India can win the dubious honour of buying an RTX 5080 GPU at Nvidia MSRP
The Facebook 'Like' emoji logo is seen in this photo illustration on 22 August, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Get ready to argue with your weird Uncle on Facebook again. Meta is rolling out its new fact checking solution to it's 190 million users in the United States
Gabe Newell in a Valve promotional video, on a yacht.
Go ahead and complain the discounts aren't as steep as they used to be, but Steam just had its biggest year ever for seasonal sales
Valve Steam Deck OLED handheld PC
'The future of hardware at Valve is bright': Valve celebrates the success of Steam Deck and Steam OS