Riot to implement long-awaited VALORANT map pool changes in patch 8.11 next month

Riot Games is charting a new course with VALORANT‘s upcoming Patch 8.11, bringing in a fresh map rotation in early June. Breeze and Split will be stepping aside, allowing Haven to re-enter the fray. 

The announcement was made in the latest Dev Updates video, where Coleman Palm, product manager, and Dan Hardison, game designer, shared the news with the VALORANT community. Emphasizing Riot’s commitment to transparency on the topic of map rotations, they revealed the next map rotation will be in Patch 8.11, set to be released in early June. 

Map rotation was first introduced in 2022 during the game’s fifth competitive Episode. At that time, with a total of eight standard maps available, maintaining a pool of seven maps in VALORANT was deemed optimal. That number ensured sufficient variety of maps while preventing overwhelming players with an excessive number of nooks and paths to master. And with a new map introduced every six months—ensuring a constant stream of fresh content for players to explore—restricting the map pool allowed players to delve deeper into the strategic nuances of each map in the rotation.

As a reminder, map rotations affect all game modes which utilize standard maps, but all maps remain accessible for custom games. This time, the not-so-popular Breeze was cut out, a choice many VALORANT players are already rejoicing. On the other hand, many will be disheartened at Split’s second rotation out.

Split had already undergone revamps in the past and returned to the active map pool with some updated features. Despite that, Split has faced temporary disablements due to exploits more than once, and with its upcoming rotation Riot, may seize the opportunity to address any lingering issues with the map.

Interestingly, while Split will undergo its second rotation, some VALORANT maps have yet to complete a full cycle of rotations. Ascent and Lotus have remained untouched by rotations thus far, as to highlight the players’ preferences and favor towards the two maps.

With map rotations poised to become a regular occurrence, anticipation mounts among VALORANT players as they patiently await Patch 8.11. But before that, there’s another show players should be looking at, as Shanghai Masters is set to begin in less than 48 hours.