Riot Games Removes Split from VALORANT’s Competitive Map Pool
The popular modern city map Split is set to be removed from VALORANT’s Competitive and Unrated map pool with the release of Patch 5.0, Riot Games announced today. This change will make way for the introduction of Pearl, the newest map in VALORANT.
Starting with Patch 5.0, there will be a temporary rotation of six maps in the competitive queues. The new map pool will consist of Haven, Bind, Ascent, Icebox, Breeze, and Fracture. Pearl will be added to the competitive queues on July 12.
Split will also be removed from the professional VALORANT circuit map pool after the Last Chance Qualifiers for Champions, which are scheduled for August. To compensate for the loss of Split, Pearl will be included in the VCT.
Riot explained that the decision to remove Split and add Pearl was based on factors such as player sentiment, time since release, planned updates, strategic variance, and the role of Pearl in the overall map pool.
Riot hinted that Split may return to the map rotation in the future with some major changes. “We’re pretty sure it will be back sometime in the future though. Maybe even with some tweaks?” Riot stated.
Although Split will no longer be available in Competitive and Unrated matches, players will still be able to play on the map in custom games and alternate game modes like Spike Rush.
VALORANT, Split, Pearl, competitive map pool, Riot Games, Patch 5.0, Last Chance Qualifiers, VCT.