VALORANT design director Joe Ziegler discussed the future of maps in today’s Dev Diaries video, casting doubt on one fan-requested feature.
While Riot understands the “incredible value” of community-made maps, Ziegler said the team’s focus and time is better spent on creating other content.
“Building a scalable community-sharing platform and a set of map-making tools would take us years of development to get off the ground,” Ziegler said. “When we weighed that against other content we could make with the team we already have, the choice was pretty clear to focus on content.”
Riot also wants new maps to be integrated into the VALORANT ecosystem, especially due to the budding pro scene. By creating their own maps, the devs can make sure they’re “grounded in the IP” and can be quickly balanced.
Though this may come as a disappointment to fans, Riot is dedicated to adding more maps to increase competitive variety. Icebox is the fifth map added to the rotation, but Ziegler says a “couple more” would help Riot feel “comfortable with [its] map diversity.”
Despite Riot’s current focus on creating other content, Ziegler didn’t exactly rule out community-made maps forever. And since this is a discussion the devs have “all the time,” the feature may pop up in the future.
