When is Valorant Episode 6 Act 1 releasing for all regions next week with the new map Lotus?

Valorant's ongoing Episode 5 Act 3 will soon close its curtains, paving the way for a new competitive frame to commence. With exciting in-game content approaching, players are bound to start marking their calendars to ease anticipation.

Episode 5 Act 3 will conclude on January 10 PT, after which Riot Games will conduct server maintenance to prepare for the Episode 6 Act 1 update. The new episode and act will begin on the same day for most regions.

The upcoming competitive frame will be the torch bearer for massive content updates, which will considerably affect the in-game meta, especially the competitive map pool. Players will be pleased to know that Valorant's sixth episode will begin on January 10, 2023, just a few hours after the ongoing act ends.

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Exploring Valorant's upcoming Episode 6 Act 1: Release time, content, and more

The new Episode 6 Act 1 will be deployed once Riot Games prepares the in-game servers for the patch. The developers will conduct server maintenance to align Valorant's servers and fix any prevailing issues to make the transition smooth.

The servers will be taken down for a few hours to complete the maintenance. The game will be unplayable during this time.

The expected maintenance timings for Valorant's upcoming patch are as follows:

• Asia Pacific: Servers will be going down for maintenance on 10/01/2023 at 14:00 PST
• Brazil: Servers will be going down for maintenance on 10/01/2023 at 06:00 PST
• Europe: Servers will be going down for maintenance on 10/01/2023 at 20:00 PST
• Korea: Servers will be going down for maintenance on 10/01/2023 at 14:00 PST
• Latin America: Servers will be going down for maintenance on 10/01/2023 at 06:00 PST
• North America: Servers will be going down for maintenance on 10/01/2023 at 06:00 PST

The Episode 6 Act 1 patch will be big in size, considering that it accommodates two maps, a plethora of new in-game cosmetics, updates to existing meta, and more. Hence, the maintenance is expected to run for around three to four hours.

Once the maintenance session concludes, players can download the update and experience all Episode 6 Act 1 content.

For starters, the upcoming episode will bring back Split, with some minor but influential tweaks to its last-known features. Furthermore, Valorant will also welcome a new map, Lotus, based on an Indian city. It will feature three plant sites, much like Haven, and will introduce exclusive mechanics, thus evolving the game's intriguing map meta.

In addition, players will be able to access a new exclusive weapon collection, Araxys, a new battlepass that will reflect popular ongoing and upcoming festivals and traditions - the Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day, and of course, the New Year 2023.