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Valorant's yearly content timeline consists of several "Acts" encapsulated in "Episodes." As per the rules, the ongoing Episode 5 Act 3 will conclude soon and a new Act will follow. This time, however, the game will also welcome a new Episode, bringing a host of exciting content, a fully-reset competitive queue, and more.
As per official information, the ongoing competitive queue is due to end in eight days. Hence, players still have a week to reach their ultimate goal on the ranked ladder.
Episode 5 was extremely influential in terms of in-game content, marking the introduction of Pearl (new map), Harbor (new Agent), several weapon collections, sprays, buddies, and more. It also introduced a new rank, Ascendant, which was added with the intent to shuffle player distribution across existing ranks.
Like every Episode in the tactical shooter, Valorant's Episode 6 and its first Act will lead to the complete reset of every player's rank. But before that, let's discuss more about the end date for Episode 5 Act 3's competitive queue on the popular Mumbai (India) server and what is next for the game.
Valorant's Episode 5 Act 3 competitive queue end date for the Mumbai server
To be exact, the competitive queue for Episode 5 Act 3 will end on January 10, 2023. Once it ends, players on the Mumbai server will face a temporary lockdown from Valorant's competitive mode.
They will not be able to play ranked games once the clock hits 7:30 PM IST on January 10. However, other modes will be available until Riot Games commences the pre-Episode (or Act) maintenance on Valorant's servers.
Players will not be able to access the FPS title once the servers are taken down to be worked upon. Riot Games usually schedules server maintenance at 14:00 PDT/3:30 AM IST for the Asia-Pacific region. Hence, one can expect the game to be unavailable for a few hours post 3:30 AM on January 11.
Being an influential "new Episode and Act" patch, it will be big in size, thus calling for a longer maintenance period. Hence, Valorant is expected to remain unavailable for two to three hours or possibly even more.
Once the maintenance is complete, the developers will reinstate the servers and deploy a patch. Fans will then be able to play Valorant and witness Episode 6 Act 1's fresh content once they download and install the update.
The Episodes and their first Acts usually bring the most influential content changes of the year. Players anticipate the upcoming iteration to abide by the common trend.
Apart from the iconic Split's return, players may receive a new map, which is speculatively codenamed Jam. Riot Games have also hinted at the introduction of a new smurf-detection system on a global scale. Apart from these, new content, including weapon skins, Battlepass, and more will also be made available.
Not much is known regarding Valorant's Episode 6 Act 1 and the content that it will bring. However, Riot Games recently posted a teaser that showcased Fade in a very intriguing foreground and background audio setup. She seemed to be approaching the speculated new map or the revamped Split, which will make its return in the upcoming season.
The developers also mentioned January 5, 2023, in the teaser's caption, which could indicate the Episode 6 trailer's release date. Fans will definitely get a closer peek at what's upcoming in the new Episode and Act very soon.
