Valorant is often compared to CS:GO. Experienced players play in a 4:3 aspect ratio for gaming advantages. Fortunately, that’s different in Valorant. Read here what happens when you play Valorant in 4:3 and why it’s good.
Why do so many CS:GO players actually play in 4:3? Among fans of the tactical shooter Counter-Strike, it’s common to play in a 4:3 aspect ratio instead of the now-standard 16:9 in games and films. Since 4:3 was used on older CRT monitors, but modern screens are 16:9, this creates a stretched and less appealing image.
While it looks odd, it provides two significant advantages in Counter-Strike:
- Your FPS improves
- Enemies are easier to see and hit due to the stretched display
As an experienced player, you accept an uglier game to hit better. However, players using 16:9 face disadvantages compared to 4:3 players. They lose some field of view (FOV) since the stretched image offers less visibility.
So much for Counter-Strike. Since Valorant shares a lot in common with the shooter and attracts some CS players, they wonder if 4:3 is also viable in the beta of Valorant. After all, you don’t want to be at a disadvantage compared to other players.
The 4:3 Aspect Ratio and FOV in Valorant
What does 4:3 bring in Valorant? YouTuber Jaeky took the time to compare the character models at 4:3 and 16:9 resolutions in CS:GO and Valorant. His conclusion: It doesn’t do anything in Valorant! The UI is simply stretched since Valorant only allows 4:3 with black bars, otherwise maintaining the 16:9 ratio.
This was intentionally designed by the developers since they do not want the stretched view from Counter-Strike with its advantages for fairness reasons. In Valorant, your skill with the weapon should lead to victory, not a dubious benefit from hardware settings.
Therefore, 4:3 does not provide any real gameplay advantages. Enemies are not easier to hit than before, and the FOV remains exactly the same as with a 16:9 resolution.
So you can confidently play in the probably better 16:9 resolution for your screen when playing Valorant.
What about FPS under 4:3? Due to the generally lower resolutions in 4:3, you get an FPS boost, but this can also be achieved by selecting a lower resolution in 16:9. So this is not a compelling reason to play in this aspect ratio.
So much for the alleged advantages of 4:3 in Valorant. If you’re still interested in good performance in Riot Games’ new team shooter, then check out our article on pro player Shroud’s settings in Valorant. It might give you the crucial advantage in the battle for victory.
