When is Breeze expected to return in Valorant?

One of Valorant’s iconic maps, Breeze, was removed from the rotation pool in Episode 6 Act 1 to accommodate the game’s newest battlefield, Lotus. Being a fan-favorite map, its removal brought about considerable disappointment within the community. Fortunately, the developers may add the picturesque island back to the game soon.

Inspired by the real-life mysterious location of the Bermuda Triangle, Breeze is depicted as a beautiful island situated in the middle of an ocean. Some of the iconic tactical features of this map include rope ascenders, which lead to a long hallway with a one-way chute to the midsection and a loud mechanical door.

At the time of writing, Riot’s popular tactical shooter features nine maps, only seven of which are active in Competitive and Unrated queues. Breeze is the sixth map to be added to the rotation. It was released in Episode 2 Act 3 (2021) and quickly became a popular preference in the esports scene due to its interestingly diverse meta.

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Here’s when Breeze may return to Valorant

As mentioned before, Breeze exited the rotation at the start of Episode 6. Bind, one of Valorant’s first three maps, was also removed from the pool at the time. Their absence was replenished by Lotus, the ninth and latest map, and Split, which returned to the tactical shooter after six months.

As of now, the developers haven’t shared any intention of re-introducing Breeze to the game. However, considering Bind’s expected return in Episode 7 Act 1 and that new or returning maps are usually added at the start of an Episode, one can anticipate Breeze’s comeback in Episode 8 Act 1 (late 2023/early 2024)

However, Riot Games has deviated from its usual pattern in many cases and the same may happen this time. Note that there is no official information to validate the aforementioned speculation at the moment and hence it should be taken lightly.

For those who are unaware, Split was removed from the rotation at the start of Episode 5 to accommodate Pearl, the game’s eighth map. At the time, the developers restricted the rotation pool to seven maps, making it easier for beginners to understand the meta.

Last year, Split’s absence was noted by several players who demanded its return. Fortunately, the developers paid heed to their pleas and added the map back to Valorant's map rotation with some balancing changes to its features. Considering this move and the developers’ promises, Breeze and Bind will also make their return to Valorant in the future.

Back in December 2022, the developers shared their intention to build upon Breeze’s features and improve its team composition meta in Valorant. They said:

“For Breeze, we feel like this map has some room to improve in terms of Agents and team comp diversity, as well as some opportunities for simplification of the space.”

They also mentioned that no date has been set for Breeze’s return in Valorant's Competitive and Unrated queues. However, the map is available in other game modes, including Spike Rush, Custom, and Escalation.