Valorant’s latest Act is concluding soon, meaning we’ll be heading into the next Episode and Act very soon. Here’s when Valorant Episode 8 Act 1 releases.
When Will Episode 8 of Valorant Launch?
Valorant’s Episode 8 Act 1 update will launch on January 9 for all regions. If it follows suit with all other Acts and Episodes, then the update will be released at 2 PM PT on that day, or 5 PM ET for you East Coast folk. From there, you’ll be free to download the patch and check out everything new in-game.
Keep in mind that if you’re a Competitive player, the season will be ending a bit earlier than this for maintenance as with every act release. If you want to grind for a particular rank, or simply want to see if you can climb a bit higher before the end of the Act, then you better get in there now.
What’s Changing With Episode 8?
Episode 8 Act 1 of Valorant will bring numerous changes across the board. Namely, the map pool will be refreshed as Haven exits the Unrated and Competitive rotation with Icebox taking its place. Icebox and Lotus will also receive a slew of reworks, with the Icebox changes unknown at the time of writing, and Lotus getting changes to its A and C sites. B site will also be expanded to give more options for attack and defense.
Other than this, there’ll be a new battle pass to grind for alongside some likely shop refreshes. There are also rumors floating around about a new sniper called the Outlaw being added with the new Episode, but with Riot not confirming or denying anything yet, you should take that with a large grain of salt.
If you want more help regarding the game, check out our guide on all maps included in Valorant Season 8 Episode 1.
