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Amidst all the lore-based speculation surrounding the "Lost City of Flowers," Valorant's design lead, Joe Lansford, revealed an exciting tidbit regarding the upcoming map. It will come with a new mechanic that, as he says, will not be very "crazy," and won't be a teleporter like those featured in Bind either.
In a brief discussion with popular Valorant athlete Adam "ec1s" Eccles, at Red Bull Home Ground 2022 grand finale, Lansford spoke about how Riot Games designs maps, their plans for those that are currently present in the title, popular player behavior on levels, and how the developers see them, and finally, the much-anticipated new addition.
Riot developer shares the very first insight into the upcoming Valorant map
Valorant's upcoming map has been causing immense hype among fans due to its connection to an Indian city. This may be the second in-game representation of the popular South Asian country, following Harbor, the new water-bending Indian Agent, who was introduced in October.
When asked about the new map, Lansford revealed limited but exciting information:
"The next map... What can I say... It’s gonna have a new mechanic. Yeah, it’s not too crazy, it’s not teleporters... But, there will be a new mechanic. It’s going to be similar to another map in the pool.”
As one can decipher, the unamed map will not let players teleport through set routes. The promised mechanic could be based out of something players have seen already, or could be an entirely new way to tackle a particular region.
As Lansford proclaimed, the new addition will be similar to another map that is already present in the pool. Taking a guess is difficult, as Lansford's statement provided very vague hints.
The ongoing Episode 5 Act 3 will end in early January, paving the way for a brand new Episode 6 in the game. As announced by Riot earlier, two maps - Bind and Breeze - will see their way out with Episode 6's kickoff. To compensate for the removal, Split will be making its return.
However, there will still be a place in the seven-map rotating pool. Even though an official nod is missing, the new one will most likely launch as part of Valorant's Episode 6.
It's possible that the new map may be similar to one of the those scheduled to exit the pool soon. Both Breeze and Bind are pretty popular in the tactical hero-based shooter game. However, the developers chose to reimagine a few features here and there to promote more diverse plays. The new map might be inspired by either of these, or it may also have a mixture of features from both.
