Riot Games has made the relationship between two characters in its popular tactical shooter Valorant canon. Posting on the official Valorant Twitter account, the devs uploaded an image of Valorant characters Raze and Killjoy kissing. In so doing Riot has made canon a relationship that many Valorant fans had been begging to be real since there had been signs along the way. Among the Valorant community, Raze and Killjoy had become a pair well shipped. In forums and on social media Valorant shippers had designated the coupling "nanobomb" — a reference to Killjoy's nano swarm ability and Raze's bombs. The beautifully illustrated kissing image culminates a journey the pair and other Valorant characters have been taking in Brazil.
On social media Valorant has been tracking the journeys of Killjoy, Raze, Yoru, Phoenix, and Neon in Salvador, Brazil; posting images from their trip and updating the Valorant fandom on their goings on. Since last week these Brazil trip images have been shared online, but the lead up to nanobomb officially coming out was nicely set up, with an image showing Raze and Killjoy among the crowd with Raze presenting a gift box to Killjoy (see below).
The relationship has been teased. Valorant players have noticed the aura around the pair for a while due to flirtatious voice lines in the game. Raze would say: "Killjoy, after this, you wanna do some... tinkering?" with a suggestive pause before she voices the last word. Killjoy would reply, "Sure, but if anything explodes again, you are telling Brim".
Previously, Riot has released a Valorant dating sim for April Fools, which features Cypher saying, "Since you asked, I did see Raze and Killjoy picnicking on the beach. All this dating drama... Good thing I'm married". Another clue featured Raze and Killjoy together on a player card for a battle pass called "Crossover" (via AFKGaming). The card was called "Friendly Fire - Killjoy & Raze versus the tentacled terrors".
Riot has previous in making relationships between characters canon, but this is the first time that an LGBTQ relationship has been confirmed in Valorant. Notably, there are League of Legends champions who are in similar relationships. Meanwhile, fans of rival tactical shooter Overwatch have been making comparisons with that game's own gay couplings.