What does "deterministic map system" mean for Valorant players, as new feature introduced to LATAM servers in patch 4.04

The issue of repetitive map selections has plagued Valorant for a long time now. Players have complained that they have had to play on the same map consecutively without having the option to do anything about it.

Even with more maps being added, the issue has persisted. Now it seems Riot has tried to address the situation with the "deterministic map system."

The game's social media forums are rife with players asking for more variations or options to somehow choose the map they will play with.

Pros and cons apart, playing on the same map for 2-3 straight matches is not something anyone will enjoy. Testing the "deterministic map system" in patch 4.04 will be interesting to counter this issue.

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Valorant players will possibly see more map variations once the "deterministic map system" is implemented worldwide

The patch notes for 4.04 states that the "deterministic map system" is being deployed in the LATAM servers as part of the initial testing phase to increase "the variety of maps that players will encounter."

They also mentioned expanding the system to other regions over the next few days/weeks if met with no issues.

The patch notes state the following regarding the system:

• Deterministic map selection follows three rules when picking a map after players have been selected to play a match.
• The system will look at all maps players have played over the last 5 maps for that mode.
• The system will remove any maps that a player has played twice in the past 5 maps.
• The system will pick the least played map.
• If all maps have been removed due to the “Twice Played” rule, those maps will be added back to the pool and the least played map will be picked.

The main issue with giving players the ability to choose maps, as seen in Counter Strike, is that it would make queue times for some of the less popular maps in Valorant significantly longer. Riot rather seems to prefer that their players will have to play all the maps one way or the other.

With this system in place, Riot will be trying to better their map variation mechanics in Valorant to get more diversity while they queue. Nobody would enjoy playing the same map repeatedly in every match. It remains to be seen if any issues will crop up.

Patch 4.04 sees many significant changes, with buffs and nerfs for Agents and tinkering with Icebox. It heralds Act 2 of Episode 4 in Valorant and brings a community Battlepass and a new premium skin bundle called Gaia's Vengeance.