With Valorant, developer Riot Games has ignited a new hype - and it's already in closed beta. Now leaks suggest a new map is coming.
Valorant currently has three different maps. Meanwhile, on Reddit, the first leaks for the appearance of the fourth map are making the rounds. Riot themselves have already given hints about the setting being in Venice. The developers have previously confirmed that Valorant will receive a fourth map before the end of the beta phase of the game - in addition to Haven, Bind and Split.
The information on Reddit comes from the data miner UlfricTheThird. According to him, the new map is called Ascent. His findings also confirm that it'll all be set in Venice. Chances are it may look very similar to Rialto from Overwatch: with models for gondola boats, pizza shops, street lamps and more.
At first glance, Ascent seems more like a split or bind with only two points of attack compared to the three points on Haven. There's certainly some sort of unique gimmick or feature that sets it apart from the other three cards, but it's hard to say what that might be at this point.
Was everything already planned?
However, there was a little teaser for a scenario like this before. Those who followed the development of Valorant will soon realize that this is not the first time that a Venetian theme has been associated with the game.
In fact, as early as March 2, 2020, a 30-second teaser was posted on Valorant's official Twitter account, showing agents fighting over a channel that bears great resemblance to the original ones in Venice.
In addition, some fans also remembered that one of the artists working on Sage had posted some artwork, with "Episode 1: Rise of Venice" in the margin. So all the evidence suggests that this factual information is accurate and is related to the early design phase of the game.
What the data miner could not find out is the release date of Ascent. Riot will probably try to introduce the map during the closed beta phase instead of waiting until the full launch in summer. Depending on how the beta phase goes, it could still take a few months, but this would increase the chances that we see Ascend before the official release of Valorant. Additionally, Riot have already mentioned that Rated mode will be coming to the closed beta in the next few weeks so adding a new map with it only makes sense.
The map will be a welcome addition to the title with its relaxing visuals, but until it actually makes it into the game we can only speculate. For everything related to Riot's new shooter and more news, make sure to check out our Valorant section.
