Valorant map design backlash: Fans feel that “community creation” and more maps will help the shooter thrive

Riot Games has faced a lot of criticism for how it has dealt with some things present in Valorant at the moment.

From the lousy matchmaking to the grind-heavy battle pass system to an utterly disastrous ranked system, and finally, uninspired map designs, Riot needs to iron a lot of things out.

Now you might be asking, “what’s wrong with the map design? Valorant maps are enjoyable to play.”

Sure! These maps were designed in a way that helps new fps players transition into the tactical shooter genre as comfortably as possible.

They are easy to navigate, with familiar and easy-to-remember chokepoints, and playing around plant sites really doesn’t require too much game knowledge.

However, it is this very simplicity of the map design that acts as a double-edged sword and makes Valorant not all that exciting to watch. When it comes to spectator experience, this title is not a fun one, and no matter how much Riot tries to improve the spectator system in-game, this shooter will still have its work cut out in maintaining the viewer’s attention.

The same chokepoints, the same corner clear angles, and the same molly and smoke points make the team strategies predictable.

Even YouTuber Summit1g talks about this same problem. Riot can overhaul is ranked and matchmaking systems, but how can it completely change the layout of the four existing maps?

Granted, each map comes with its unique features; Ascent has its metal doors, while Blind has its teleporters, but are these nearly enough to make this game exciting to watch? Probably not.

Riot might have to rely on “community creation” for Valorant’s success

Now, let’s take CS: GO into consideration for a moment. Valve’s shooter is incredibly exciting to watch, and there indeed is no debate on this topic.

CS: GO was capable of creating some of the best moments in competitive esports history, and this is precisely why it’s still loved by fans, even if Valve is choosing to ignore its plethora of problems.

CS: GO’s intricate map designs, and a much higher skill cap, are what make it a more nail-biting experience than Valorant for spectators.

In a recent Reddit post by Somethingplace, the Valorant fan talks about how “community creation” will help this title grow, especially in the map design department.

The Redditor writes:

“I don’t believe this game will get anywhere if the community isn’t able to create maps and servers. We get one map every episode, and so far, all four maps in my opinion, and many of my high-rank friends’ opinions, are not very good (as well as Shroud and many great players/content creators opinions).”

You might think that it’s a very unpopular opinion that Somethingplace is expressing. But if you look at the total amount of upvotes and how many other Redditors commented in support of the view, you will realize just how deep-seated the map design problem is in the Valorant community.

Somethingplace continues:

“My favorite map, Ascent, is comparable to my least favorite Counter-Strike ones. If players could get access to create maps that could potentially make it into the game, it would help this game a lot. Most of the greatest CS maps were made by the community, and if it weren’t for the community, CS would be nowhere.”

“I fear Valorant will go down the wrong path and continue making maps the community just settles for instead of enjoying (also another thing that would be nice is if we could queue for only certain maps). This is just my opinion on the matter, as I hear players complain about the maps almost every match. In fact, I should change the title from “unpopular opinion” to “popular opinion”, as everyone I’ve ever played with has the same opinion, lol.”

Indeed, how differently each CS: GO map plays out every round is what makes this game so exciting for both the spectator and player.

Valorant’s future is not doomed

Even though we have been ranting about the Valorant map design this whole while, don’t get us wrong and think this titles’ esports future is a bleak one.

Riot’s shooter has a lot of potential to grow and cement itself as one of the best in the world, and the problems with this game are fixable.

In a follow-up comment to Somethingplace’s Reddit post, a Valorant player has brought some interesting facts to our attention:

The Redditor writes:

“What’s also worth noting is that CS: GO started as a console port of CSS by Hidden Path. Valve took over during the alpha or beta. Before and for a few years after launch, MS and Sony had policies regarding content updates, which meant Valve couldn’t update the game as frequently as it wanted to."

"So it’s funny when people say that Valve doesn’t support the game and doesn’t listen to the player base. If it didn’t, it would have just let HPE release the game and Valve would have ignored the title after launch. Instead of doing what it did, which was listening to players during beta and for years after release. But people seem to think that if a company doesn’t give them a road map, then it doesn’t listen to the community.”

The Valorant player further supports his comments by providing two separate video links:

This indeed is a very insightful take on the ongoing issues with Valorant’s map design. And as Riot has proven, more often than not, that it is very keen on community feedback, we can’t help but feel that this shooter has a very bright future ahead, provided the devs play their cards right.