Riot Games is ringing in 2023 with a fresh map rotation for Valorant bringing lots of updates. With the release of patch 6.0 in January, the beloved map Split will once again be available in Valorant, but two other maps must be sacrificed. The split will be back, but there will also be “a few adjustments,” according to maps and modes design head Joe Lansford, who wrote about this in a new blog post. These changes will be described in the Valorant patch 6.0 notes when they eventually release. Riot Games is Bringing Split Map
Split is back (with some changes). Bind and Breeze are out for now. Read about the next Competitive/Unrated queue map rotation.https://t.co/TdjDiJIHe0 pic.twitter.com/Wc5nybIEnx
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) December 2, 2022
To put it mildly, there was some controversy over Split’s decision to leave the VALORANT map pool in June 2022. Split was removed from the Competitive and Unrated map pool after Pearl was released while developers made some adjustments. It felt a bit odd, especially considering that other areas in the game had more obvious issues. Riot Games is Bringing Split Map
Split to Return in Valorant Competitive queuing
One of the first maps in VALORANT was the Croatian-based one- The Split. In comparison to its contemporaries, like Bind and Haven, the map was much more subdued. But just because something is simple doesn’t mean that there aren’t issues with it. Many players criticised Split for being too defensively biased. In tactical shooters like VALORANT, the maps are typically balanced to be at least even for both sides.
Split will return in patch 6.0 “with a few updates” in response to fan feedback. “Lots of you wanted it back and it makes sense with the other pool shifts,” level designer Joe ‘Pearl Hogbash’ Lansford writes. “We’re looking forward to seeing how everyone plays the map with all the new agents and meta shifts that have happened since Split left the rotation.”
Bind and Breeze to exit Map Pool
Bind and Breeze will be removed from the rotation, taking them out of the Valorant ranks as well as its Unrated queue for the time being in exchange for the return of Split to the Valorant maps pool for competitive play.
Riot Games said “For Breeze, we feel like this map has some room to improve in terms of Agents and team comp diversity, as well as some opportunities for simplification of the space. And for Bind, it’s mostly about strategic diversity. We’d like to open up more play around the teleporters and potentially rethink how teams execute, and defend against executes, on both sites.”
These rotations may disappoint some of you, but like like Split, these maps won’t be gone forever.
Read More: Fans Accused the Pakistani Cricket Board of Copying Valorant Chamber Cinematic Trailer
