The time has come for the sun to set in VALORANT—now that its tenth map is here. Featuring a beautiful golden hour backdrop and several area-inspired elements like a boba shop, food trucks, a skate park, and more, Sunset’s design does excellent justice to Los Angeles’ charisma.
VALORANT’s latest map officially launches in Episode Seven, Act Two, which was deployed via Patch 7.04 on Aug. 29. But it won’t be showing up in your ranked or casual games just yet. Like with every new map release, players will be given the chance to learn Sunset’s quirks and adjust to the new meta it brings before it’s added to the Competitive and Unrated queues.
So, when will Sunset start appearing in VALORANT’s Competitive mode? Here’s everything you need to know about the map’s release schedule in Episode Seven, Act Two.
VALORANT Sunset map release date in Competitive and Unrated modes
For your convenience, Riot has revealed the time frame that you’ll be given to learn the map, so buckle up—we have a lot to learn.
With Episode Seven, Act Two’s release on Aug. 29, VALORANT will host a dedicated Sunset-only queue, where matches will follow the Swiftplay format, for one week. The games will be short (secure five rounds to win), so pick your favorite agent and jump right in to experience the map.
This trial phase will end with Patch 7.05, scheduled to drop on Sept. 6. So, you should start seeing Sunset in your ranked, unrated, and other queues from Sept. 6 onwards, with the next update.
“Please note that the Sunset only queue will only be playable in Swiftplay mode for one week and then goes into the Competitive and Unrated map rotation in Patch 7.05,” Riot said in the Patch. 7.04 notes.
Related: Best agents in VALORANT: Ranked tier list
This week is sort of a neutral phase, which the developers will use to check and eliminate any game-breaking glitches brought on by Sunset’s launch. And while they work in the background, you get to warm up and figure out strategies as well.
That being said, Breeze, one of VALORANT’s iconic maps that is making its return to the map pool in Episode Seven, Act Two, will go live for all game modes, including Competitive and Unrated, with Patch 7.04’s release.
