Valorant has seen new content over the past few months that some fans have taken issue with. One of the largest issues came in the form of Valorant’s newest map Icebox, which a vocal group of the playerbase dislikes.
Now, it seems like those who dislike Icebox may not be happy with the future of Valorant’s map design. In a recent Dev Diary video, Valorant Design Director Joe Ziegler confirms that future Valorant maps will follow the footsteps laid out by the controversial Icebox map.
For those who haven’t been following Valorant, the design of its latest map has caused a stir among players. There are plenty of players who feel positive or neutral about Icebox, but a vocal group of players want Icebox removed from Valorant due to the abundance of angles that players have to clear, and the number of vertical vantage points around the map. Yet, it seems like Valorant’s design team enjoys the direction that Icebox took, and future maps might follow a similar blueprint.
The official Valorant YouTube channel released its Dev Diary video focusing on the future of Valorant’s maps today. Ziegler speaks about a variety of topics including Icebox, adding new maps to Valorant, and the future of Valorant’s map design. He said the four original maps were meant to introduce players to Valorant’s play style. However, Ziegler goes on to say that, “Moving forward, I hope you can see how we’ll continue challenging the basic concepts of map design in order to promote more diverse, strategic play.”
Ziegler goes on to explain how Icebox does just that, with a design resulting in skirmishes that require “sharper aim and quicker decision making to win.” It sounds like Valorant’s team is pleased with how Icebox turned out, despite a vocal group of Valorant’s players calling for its removal. Though seeing Icebox’s removal from the game doesn’t seem like a reality, Valorant’s development team may still listen to changes fans wants to see in Valorant maps going forward.
Ziegler also takes time to mention another important aspect of Valorant’s map choice. He confirmed that Valorant won’t support community-made maps for quite some time, mentioning that a feature like that would take “years of development time” to implement into the game. While those who strongly dislike Icebox may feel upset by this news, players who enjoy what Icebox’s design brings to Valorant have a lot to potentially look forward to.
Valorant is available now for PC.