Everything we Know About VALORANT's Upcoming Map "Abyss"

Contents

Introducing Abyss What’s New in Abyss?Inspiration and Goals Behind Abyss Release Date

VALORANT’s 11th map, “Abyss,” is almost upon us. Let’s see what the new map has to offer.

With the 8.11 update, VALORANT will release its 11th map into the game. As VALORANT gets a new map in almost every different episode, it was high time that Riot Games revealed the new map. So, what is Abyss all about?

Introducing Abyss

Abyss is the 11th overall and the 9th alpha earth map in VALORANT. It is located in Sør-Jan, Jan Mayen, Norway. According to VALORANT’s official description, Abyss is:

A 5v5 map that provides thrilling danger with its precarious pitfalls and vertical gameplay. Abyss is the first VALORANT map that has no boundaries and takes place in the secret hidden fortress of the Scions of the Hourglass.”
Riot Games

What’s New in Abyss?

Abyss has, like most other maps, 2-spike sites with a 3-lane layout. The midpaths are branched into three different segments. The most important feature of this map is that there are no boundaries, meaning you can literally fall off the map if you are not careful. You may wonder how falling off the map is a feature. Well, Riot Games did it intentionally so players can get more creative with the map and find new “jump shortcuts” to make the gameplay more engaging.

Inspiration and Goals Behind Abyss

The primary goal of Abyss, according to Riot Games, is to motivate players to use their abilities and movements in unique ways. The removal of boundaries creates a high-risk, high-reward environment for the players where they can make risky plays to outsmart their opponents, but failing to pull it off will literally cost their lives and maybe the round.

We designed towards this goal by removing the boundaries of the map and letting player creativity shine through. Whether it’s Raze satchelling an enemy off of the map, Omen Shadow Stepping around structures, or any Agent making use of the more high risk paths around the sites.

However, Riot Games also kept in mind that it is, in fact, a first-person shooter. Considering this fact, Abyss was designed for long-range gunfights and an features an easy-to-learn map layout. However, due to the map’s verticality, Abyss also gives many instances where players will be able to play around and over the smokes.

Abyss also focuses on longer range gunfights while maintaining a straightforward and easy to learn layout. A smaller design goal for Abyss was also exploring
ways to fight over and around smokes instead of them feeling like they can completely block out a choke point.

Here are some screenshots of Abyss’ different areas: