- Breeze is a new map coming to VALORANT
- It will feature a wider and more open play area, unlike the other maps in the game
- The developers talk about the process behind Breeze’s making
The VALORANT developers share their experience of working on the game’s newest map, Breeze.
Players Wanted a Less Claustrophobic Battlefield
VALORANT has had a number of patches, changes, new agents, and events but hadn’t received a new map since its release. However, this changed on Breeze, the fresh new map that made its way into the game in the game’s third act of the second season. The developers used the feedback from the past few months to create a wholly new experience that still captures the same VALORANT atmosphere that fans love.
The team behind VALORANT gave fans an insight into their map creation process in the Dev Diary.
Breeze was set to be different from most other maps as the devs evaluated the feedback from the past few months – fans had requested a wider map, and that’s what was delivered. Breeze has many open spaces rather than VALORANT’s usual tightly-packed areas. The map features a sunny island in the Bermuda Triangle with beaches and large rooftops where skilled players can show off their longsighted aiming.
The developers said that they usually reduce the size of maps through development but that they refrained from doing that for Breeze.
The VALORANT team went on to explain how this changes how the map is played as it requires people to aim further away and form new ideas on how to use agents’ unique qualities and abilities.
How a Map Receives Its Look
The developers revealed that they used some old concepts from an old prototype map that never saw the light of day – namely, the pyramid on the A site. However, as the development progressed, they decided to add two pyramids instead of one. The team said that A perfectly conveys what the map is going for as it features a lot of open space around the center.
When the basic “gray box” layout of the map was finished, the environment designers took over and started polishing the visuals. They mixed rusty industrial look with some stone ruins and the futuristic appearance of the pyramids in A.
The developers explained that story elements were added last. They gave the glowing radianite in the Chop Shop as an example – when development starts, those things aren’t planned in advance. However, as a map progresses, the art team makes creative decisions and decides which areas to enrich with some in-game lore. Usually, such curious areas are more hidden as not to take away the players’ attention too much.
Breeze will soon come to competitive VALORANT as well. It was removed during the masters in Reykjavik but will be used during the Champions Tour stage 3. We are yet to see how elite esports players adapt to the unusual open map.
