Members of the Valorant development team have been talking a lot about the future of the game’s various maps. Riot has spoken about upcoming maps and characters plenty of times in the past, mentioning that the team does not intend to have long stretches of time where there is an absence of new content.
However, the options that players have available to experience Valorant’s various maps are still somewhat limited. Thankfully, a member of Valorant’s development team has addressed that exact concern on Twitter following a player’s request for separate map queues.
For those who may be unfamiliar with Valorant, players are not able to choose what map they play on unless they create a custom game. So while players can technically choose what map they play on in a custom game, actually gathering enough real players to play out a full match in a custom game is not always easy. Additionally, Valorant doesn’t have any casual game modes where players who don’t want an overly competitive experience can experiment against other real players. This can create a problem when a new map gets released, as the random map selection can sometimes make it difficult for players to gain valuable experience on a new map.
Valorant development member Altombre on Twitter actually addressed this exact concern from one of Valorant’s players. A user going by the handle @Nicememe765 asked, “Could you please put a separate so we can quickly get some experience,” eventually bringing up Valorant’s new map Icebox. Altombre responded, confirming that this feature is something the team has been actively talking about behind the scenes, though he doesn’t confirm the feature is coming to the game anytime soon. Still, this is positive news for players who feel like they’re constantly missing out on valuable experience that could help them play better on Valorant’s newer maps.
Unfortunately, separate queues for different maps could create some problems in Valorant’s matchmaking. Icebox has been a controversial map in Valorant recently, with many players saying it is by far the least fun map to play on. If Valorant’s matchmaking split’s up the player base by allowing players to queue for specific maps, it could seriously dilute the player pool for unpopular maps like Icebox. Still, if the team behind Valorant handles this feature properly it could provide a great way for players to gain experience on each map.
Of course, this potential change to Valorant’s queuing system is all still hypothetical. While players are still getting used to Icebox, it sounds like the team at Riot Games is still hard at work thinking up ideas for new maps. Valorant’s development team discussed accelerating map releases recently, so players may not have to wait long for the next new addition. Hopefully, the team follows through and makes it possible for players to join map-specific queues in the future.
Valorant is available now for PC.