All Valorant map changes happening in Episode 9 revealed

Maps Producer Albert Robles revealed all the Valorant map changes players can expect for the rest of 2024 in a State of the Maps blog post on July 30, 2024. He spoke about several things, ranging from data regarding Abyss' post-launch success to the changes to the map pool that will be implemented after Champions 2024.

This article discusses the Valorant map changes Robles highlighted in the blog post.

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All Valorant map changes players can expect for the rest of 2024

While Robles did not announce anything groundbreaking, or even hint at the inclusion of a new map in the future, he spoke extensively about the developers' goal to improve the overall map pool experience.

In Patch 8.11, all 11 presently available maps were made available to players in the casual gameplay modes. He acknowledged that this was only a small step towards improving the map pool experience as the Competitive format is where changes are most welcome. Right now, seven out of 11 maps are available for ranked play at any given time.

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All Valorant map pool changes coming in 2024

Valorant console players will be given one map per match. They received Lotus in Patch 9.01 and Icebox in Patch 9.02. At this pace, PC and console players will be at par in terms of map availability soon.

As far as PC players are concerned, Sunset's B-Site is set to receive design alterations in Patch 9.08 to tackle the staple post-plant spam-centric mechanic that's deployed by players across skill levels.

The other Valorant map change coming with Patch 9.08 is the exit of Icebox and Lotus from the active map pool to create space for Pearl and Split. Robles also mentioned that the returning maps will remain unchanged. He explained that maps being taken out of the active pool doesn't necessarily mean they need structural changes. These decisions are taken based on meta/match data.

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Abyss competitive launch

Apart from the upcoming Valorant map changes, the developer also shared some interesting facts about Abyss, in the period since its launch. He revealed that over seven million games had been played on the map by 13+ million players, leading to over 30 million hours of gameplay.

Furthermore, Robles shared that over nine million people had fallen off the map since it was released at the end of Masters Shanghai.