Valorant patch 6.0 is here, and with that, we have the latest map, Lotus, added to the game. In addition, Riot has added Lotus only queue to Swiftplay for you to practice before it hits competitive and unrated queues. Thus, many players are wondering when they will be able to play on this new Indian map in competitive and unrated mode, and here is the answer to this question.
Valorant: Lotus Release Date in Competitive, Unrated Mode
Riot has officially announced that Lotus will be added to competitive and unrated queues in patch 6.01, which will release on January 18. The official patch notes read, ” Please note that the Lotus only queue will only be playable in Swiftplay mode for one week and then goes into the competitive and Unrated map rotation in Patch 6.1.”
Riot restricts every new map from entering the competitive queues so that everyone can get familiar with it and can step into the competitive queues with a fair advantage. So, until Lotus hits the competitive and unrated modes, you can try out playing on it in Swiftplay and try out different agents and strategies.
In addition to this, Split has also returned to the game, and the community is not a huge fan of it; if you are among those players who love this map and have been waiting for it to come back, you can start playing on it in both competitive and unrated.