Valorant celebrates its birthday with retro music, gifts, and only a few gameplay adjustments in the patch for now.
Riot Games announced its tactical shooter on May 1, 2020. In Act III of Season 2025, five years later, the Valorant developer wants to celebrate the game’s history so far: The new battle pass is full of references to moments from the Valorant community. In the current map selection, Fracture is replaced by Sunset.
Yoru is hit the hardest
There are hardly any gameplay changes in Patch 10.08: Brimstone’s firebomb is now easier to hear, and Astra’s Nova Pulse only stuns for 3.5 seconds instead of 4. Yoru is hit the hardest.
The Japanese duelist’s ultimate ability will now cost one more point and last two seconds less. Riot wants to bring Dimension Drift in line with similarly influential ultimates. Fans of the agent will now have to rely more on his basic abilities.
The update also adjusts the punishment for disruptive players in Premier: instead of a fixed 30-day ban, the length of the penalties will depend on the severity of the offense. Premier Season V25A3 begins on May 7.
When the carry deserves a reward
Probably the biggest new feature in the latest patch can be found in the shop. Valorant now allows players to give gifts to each other. For now, this feature is limited to skins available in the “Featured Shop,” but more options will be added later.
Gifts can only be sent between accounts that have been friends for at least one week and are above level 15. Both players must also play in the same region and not be banned. A maximum of five gifts can be sent per day.
Other changes include several bug fixes, and the new “Divergence” skin series will be available soon. The bundle includes a knife as well as Classic, Judge, Vandal, and Operator. It will cost 8,700 VP.
For a touch of nostalgia, music from Episode 1 plays sporadically in various menus, including agent selection and victory and defeat screens.
