- Riot will not feature the recently introduced Breeze map for its Masters Reykjavik event
- Players will benefit from a fairer competitive environment this way avoiding the need to develop new strategies under pressure
- The decision was made with the support of the competitive community
Riot Games has decided against featuring Breeze in the upcoming Masters Reykjavik as a clear signal that the company would look out for the community's best interests.
Masters Reykjavik All about Competitive Fairness
With the VALORANT Champions Tour approaching, Riot Games has every intention to get the competition right. After all, a reactivated volcano didn't dissuade the developer from reconsidering so why would game imbalance?
That is precisely what Riot is addressing by announcing the removal of Breeze, a game map, which will no longer feature in the Masters Reykjavik pool. The company argued that the removal of Breeze was not an easy decision, but only came after extensive consultation with the global Valorant elite, and was done in the interest of “competitive integrity.”
Riot Games explained that players simply do not have the time to familiarize themselves with and practice sufficiently on a brand-new map between travel to Iceland and playoffs. The upshot is that the studio is taking a more streamlined approach and hopes to help competitors from all teams to have a more balanced experience.
Breeze was only released on April 27, and as such, it's the newest addition to the map pool. While the map allows sufficient competitive leeway, Riot Games would not like to assume that all teams can learn viable strategies in the small-time window that they have.
Giving Teams an Equal Footing in Competitive Valorant
For example, some teams are only now competing for a spot in the Masters and throwing them in a new map would lead to drop in performance, the developers believe as consulting with professional players from leading organizations.
That is good news and Riot Games, who vowed to develop VALORANT organically, is not really looking to detract from the competitiveness of the game by introducing unfamiliar mechanics to it. The Masters Reykjavik will kick off on May 24 with 10 teams in attendance.
There are seven qualified teams already and three more are coming with two from Brazil and one from Latin America still being decided. As a bit of interesting trivia, Valve, Riot Games' competitor in League of Legends, actually released Dota 2 as a beta and patched the version during the first The International event which featured $1 million in prize money.
