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VALORANT
EPISODE 7 ACT 3 // ISO
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Valorant has been celebrated by players for our agent’s cultural depiction. To launch Iso, a Chinese duelist, the challenge is to do this authentically for the diaspora and the players living in China, as they have different appreciation of their culture.
But, they do have the same appreciation of their youth culture. What’s more, they share the same pursuit of mastery that defies odds. These feats of mastery are nothing short of modern day mythology. And myths, is what Iso is made of.
ISO AS THE AVATAR OF MASTERY
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RIOT GAMES
34.0549° N
118.2426° W
Animation by Lightfarm ◾
This reveal trailer is also an attempt to connect to a more cohesive narrative between story beats. The story is set directly after the previous cinematic, and ends with a cliffhanger.
Taking players on a narrative journey this way will be more exciting to engage with our IP. All these, while introducing Iso to the world by building on his myths acquired from his mastery.
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WITH REGION-INSPIRED ART DIRECTION
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Illustration by Su Ke, Lemon Art and Envar Studio ◾
Designed by Brandon Meier ◾
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FOLLOWED BY A GAMEPLAY TRAILER
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Gameplay by Dark Burn Creative ◾
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AND SOME LETHAL FLOW
Music by 99Gods ◾
Representing a morally grey hero from China authentically has its own set of challenges. Especially when giving 'bad boy vibes' is shun upon in the region’s media landscape.
But its important to give a voice to the underrepresented underground youth culture in China, to show the world how cool it can be. And we found it in 99 Gods.
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SHOWING Chong Qing’s FIGHTING SPIRIT TO THE WORLD
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by Wieden + Kennedy◾
Producted by Tencent◾
As a way to celebrate Iso’s city of origin, Chong Qing, we created a stunt for players to embody his 1 v 1 spirit. Inspired by Chong Qing’s spirit of rising above challenges no matter the odds, we look to how the city is built ON the mountains vertically.
So it’s only natural we built a leaderboard vertically on the city itself using their staircases. To rise in this leaderboard, players will need to win 1 v 1 duels. Each win brings you a step higher. Rise to the top? And you’ll be celebrated as the city’s myth.
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HELPING TO SHAPE THE CHARACTER
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RIOT GAMES
34.0549° N
118.2426° W
On top of Creative Director duties for this act, I also helped the Games team bring Iso to life during development stage. Consulting on Chinese Gen Z values and personalities.
This also includes character naming, setting music taste and even graphic decals design, as well as cultural consultant for both Games and Marketing team.
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◾ TEAM
Jonny Altepeter
Eric Tan
Peter Li
Brandon Meier
Su Ke
Michael White
Laura Dambuleff
Jordan Calderon
Jeremiah Alavi
Molly Joseph
Amy Shin
Sam Han
Wensen Zeng
Wang Yi Shan
Joe Wang
Dylan Gafner
Jeff Landa
Jo-Ellen Aragon
Chris Roberts
Brock Marlborough
Thanh Vo
Jessica Engs
Joy Chao
(and many more)
Ryan Clements
Chris Gillett
Shane McDonald
Erik Schuiten
Dylan Bates
Winnie Huang
John Goscicki
Joseph Killeen
Kristian Kane
Nathan Hower
Matt Salkin
Jessica Liou
Tim Lembke
Shannon Denton
Nathaniel Emond
Keyshawn Frazier
Liam Neary
Alyssa Gentile
Glenn Gutierrez
Pep Perez
Sharon Chow
Tony Grinage
Nick Hoskins
Becca Guttentag
