Glitchpop Knife Keychain

EP 1: Ignition, Act 2 · August 4, 2020 · 4,350 VP (individually) / 8,700 VP (full bundle). The melee from VALORANT's first Exclusive Edition cyberpunk themed skin line, and one born entirely by accident. Senior weapon artist Chris Stone revealed that a concept artist produced an unrequested but unique design called "megapunk," and the team liked the idea so much they extrapolated the entire Glitchpop aesthetic from it. Stone said "we decided to focus on how to push this skin line towards a more fun and punk aesthetic, instead of the classic gloomy and grounded cyberpunk representation we often see." The team coined the internal design philosophy "Playful but Deadly." Stone cited anime like Akira and Ghost in the Shell alongside games like Deus Ex and Ruiner as inspiration, but stressed the goal was to "create something that didn't directly reference any one of them, but felt like a new take." The Dagger is where Glitchpop's randomization element becomes most visible. As an avid Counter Strike player, Stone noted that "a common gameplay behavior in those games is pressing 1, 3, 1, 3 to switch between your primary weapons and knife pre round and post round." The team wanted to reward that habit with a skin line "born from our love of shooters and looking at how players are engaging with the game." The Dagger features 3 color variants (green, pink, bluish purple) designed so players could match their agent: "Maybe you're playing Killjoy, so you want to have a lime green one, or maybe you're playing Omen and you want the purple one." The skins feature holographic sticker projections on the weapons that balance between a "corporate feeling" and "small indie brands," plus vibrant neon lights and industrial carbon fiber textures. The original bundle included the Dagger, Frenzy, Bulldog, Judge, and Odin. Its massive popularity led to Glitchpop 2.0 (EP 2, February 2021) adding a Vandal, Phantom, Operator, Classic, and Axe, and eventually a 3.0 collection, making Glitchpop one of the few skin lines in VALORANT to receive three separate bundles. Stone and fellow artist Sean Bigham originally expressed that they would "love to do a Vandal or Phantom" in the Glitchpop style, and the community demand made it happen.