Riot Games has finally revealed the seventh VALORANT map called Fracture, and the developer has released a teaser to show the map's unique features.
The new map is marked by its H-shaped layout with a visual split down the middle that reveals contrasting sides. Unlike previous VALORANT maps, Fracture's Defender Spawn sits in the middle of the map. There are long ziplines that connect routes underneath, and it's the first map with interactive objects.
Like previous maps, there are heavy tie-ins to the lore of VALORANT, and it's described to have first exposure to Mirror Earth Kingdom, and the map expands on the mirrorverse and both Kingdoms.
Fracture's A Site is distinguised by its arid desert environment with its abandoned facilties, and its B site is contrasted by lush overgrown foilage left to take over the science facility. At the middle of the map is where the central collider is found, and players can zipline through underneath it.
"Fracture is a special map from a design standpoint, but we also wanted to push unique solutions on the visual side," said Brian Yam, VALORANT Lead Artist in the press release. "By having two distinct sides, this allows visually interesting storytelling by prompting players to question the events that took place and the radical results that ensued. It also provides clear player orientation from a visual and callout perspective."
On where the idea of Fracture's design came from, Joe Lansford, VALORANT Level Designer, said that Fracture came "from a simple question: 'What if?' Specifically, what if attackers started on both sides of the map, pinching defenders? We really wanted to ask players to rethink some fundamental assumptions and give them unique problems to solve. For example, for whom is the neutral space really for? From there, the goals just all focused on supporting that "what if." The H-shape of the map, the neutral spaces, the ziplines, everything is built to reinforce that core idea."
Check out the new images of Fracture from Riot Games:
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Fracture will be released in VALORANT with the launch of Episode 3, Act 2 update on September 8.