Riot adds new VALORANT competitive rank, Ascendant

VALORANT is set to receive a new rank in the competitive game mode dubbed Ascendant, Riot Games announced today. 

The rank will be situated above Diamond and below Immortal, so more players can be filtered between the lower and higher ends of the ranking system. The Ascendant rank is set to launch alongside the release of Episode Five, Act One on June 22. 

“As the development team reflected on Rank distribution, it became clear that there were too many players in Bronze and Silver who didn’t necessarily belong there,” Riot said regarding the new rank’s implementation. 

Riot explained that this could lead to an eventual overpopulation of the higher ranks like Platinum and Diamond. Rather than letting those ranks be filled with players, the developers are set to implement Ascendant prior to Immortal, the second-highest rank in the game. This will help maintain the prestige of higher ranks, according to Riot.

The Silver rank is arguably one of the most populated in the game, according to data provided by Esports Tales. Players in the Silver rank take up 28.1 percent of the player base, while Radiant, the highest rank in the game, amounts to 0.03 percent. 

In May, Silver One had the highest distribution of players with 10.2 percent. This figure slowly trickles down to around one to five percent at the highest ranks. Ascendant will likely feature around the same number as lower-ranked players slowly shift toward the higher ends of the ranked system.