It’s common for holiday-themed game modes to become available in multiplayer titles near the end of the year, and it appears that Riot Games already has something planned for Valorant this year. Recently, dataminers were able to find evidence showing that a snow-themed mode will be making its way to the popular title this upcoming winter season.
Since its initial launch back in June, Valorant has seen considerable growth both in content and in fanbase. As a matter of fact, the tactical first-person shooter just recently kicked off its third Act with patch 1.10, which includes a new battle pass, level, quality-of-life improvements, and other exciting features that will keep you immersed and engaged for hours on end.
The new map, in particular, comes at a really opportune time. The new update brought with it a brand-new ice-cold map called Icebox, which seems like the perfect setting for the recently-leaked “Snowball Mode.”
Information about the possible new mode is scarce, but dataminers were able to procure some of its associated tags which contain words such as rapid fire, bouncy, growball, and skates. This list of words has definitely been intriguing to many players.
New Mode: Snowball | #VALORANT pic.twitter.com/EBkj0E2XqM
— Valorant Leaks (@ValorLeaks) October 13, 2020
From what we can speculate, these tags most likely pertain to mode-specific abilities that will take the place of or possibly even increase the tactical options available. However, there’s also a chance that they could refer to unique orbs, or a completely different mechanic altogether.
Most of the tags appear to refer to various kinds of snowballs, but there’s one tag that’s worth noting. The “skates” tag could be an indication that Valorant will introduce a new movement ability.
Previously, Game Director Joe Ziegler teased fans by saying that Riot has plans to add new casual game modes to Valorant, and this upcoming snowball-themed one could be a part of that.
We’re not altogether surprised by this potential new mode though, as Riot is known for releasing innovative limited-time game modes in League of Legends, which is another popular title of theirs.
Valorant fans have already shown an eagerness towards eccentric challenges, which can be seen in the way they gobbled up casual, custom game modes, including the popular Laser Chase mode that was created by another user.
It may seem that players can expect exhilarating things to arrive in Valorant this season, but there’s just one thing that can possibly put a damper to your excitement. More specifically, Riot Games is unenthusiastic about the idea of Agent skins.
Non-weapon skins aren’t something that they’re keen on adding because the company thinks that these could affect the competitive integrity of Valorant, even though seasonal skins in League of Legends and Overwatch have always remained popular throughout the years.
That being the case, Riot Games also didn’t completely squash the possibility, so there’s a chance it might change its mind in the future. Having Agent skins along with the release of the snowball-themed mode would have been a great sight to behold, though.
In other news, fans can expect other improvements added to Valorant in the future aside from the regular bug fixes. For one thing, Riot has confirmed that they plan to rework the ranking system of the game, as well as include a feature that prevents players from repeatedly getting queued into the same maps.
These upcoming additions will surely keep Valorant fresh and relevant for many months to come.
