Valorant 9.00 update: Release date, patch notes, and more

The wait is over and Valorant's patch 9.00 has started to roll out across the different regions. The new update launches Episode 9 Act 1, bringing completely new content and modifying what was already available.

Changes go from quality-of-life updates to agent balancing, possibly affecting the current meta. We have the complete patch notes in case you want to read about it while you download the update or before your next play session.

Release date

Valorant Episode 9 Act 1 is set to begin on Tuesday, June 25/Wednesday, June 26, depending on the region you play. Before the update is available to install, the game will go down for a four-hour maintenance period.

North America, LATAM, and Brazil servers will go down at 6:00 am PT and come back up at 10:00 am PT barring any issues.

On the other hand, European players will have to wait a little bit longer to enjoy this new season, as the maintenance starts the next day. Servers will go down at 4:00 am BST on Wednesday, June 26, and should return at 8:00 am on that same day.

As announced on Valorant's official X (formerly known as Twitter) account, Riot Games' title will include the patch's new content one day after its release. 

Starting with Patch 9.00, new content will be available in-game the day AFTER the patch release, with store updates coming the day after that. For example, if your region usually gets patch releases on Tuesdays, new content will arrive in-game on Wednesday and the store will update on Thursday.

This applies to agents, maps, acts, rank refreshes, Battlepasses, and skins. Therefore, we expect Valorant's Evori Dreamwings Bundle to be available in Valorant's store on June 27 for North America, LATAM, and Brazil users. Meanwhile, European players will have to wait until June 28 to get their hands on Valorant's new skin line.

Patch notes

Here are the complete patch notes for update 9.00 posted on Valorant's official website:

Agent Updates

All platforms

• We've added new conversation voice lines between Agents that includes: Phoenix, Harbor, Brimstone, Yoru, Raze, Iso, Sage, Neon, Gekko, Skye, Deadlock, Omen, Kayo, and Reyna.

PC

 Iso

• Double Tap (E): Duration: 20s >>> 12s 

  • Signature kill reset removed 

Console

• Sova's Owl Drone's HP is now 100, up from 60.

Competitive Updates

PC

• Abyss added to the Ranked map pool.

Console

• Competitive Mode is coming to Console this patch! Queue up and see if you can climb the ranks and make it onto the Immortal Leaderboards. Good luck on your first race to Radiant!

• Our Competitive Mode map pool will start with Abyss, Ascent, Bind, Haven, and Sunset with new maps slowly being added in the next few patches.

Gameplay Systems Updates

Console

• Added a new "Controls Preset" selection screen upon first boot-up prior to loading into the tutorial 

  • You can now choose between our VALORANT-specific controls preset or a more familiar, TRADITIONAL console FPS preset as your starting controls scheme. 

  • You can easily change your preset and customize controls at any point once in-game through the Settings menu.

• Polished sound transitions between Focus and ADS to better reflect the aim state you're transitioning into.

• Crosshair presets have been updated to reflect a better variety of usable crosshairs.

• Updated the Fighter controls preset so that Crouch is a Hold action instead of a Toggle action.

• Added holistic Aim Sensitivity slider.

• Added the ability to enter precision mode while in controls settings to adjust sensitivity sliders by .1 increments.

Player Behavior Updates

PC

• In addition to removing zero tolerance terms from text chat, people who repeatedly engage in this behavior will see increased penalties on their transgressions.

Premier Updates

PC

• Teams in Contender that earned a promotion in Stage E8A3 are in the new Invite Division, where finishing the Stage at a high enough rank will earn you an opportunity to make it into a Challengers League.

• Contender and Invite Divisions play a little differently:

  • Strict rematch protection in weekly matches prevents you from ever matching against the same team more than once in a Stage.

  • If we can't find you an appropriate match during the queue window, you'll be given a Bye. Byes award a match win and 100 points.

  • Losses award 0 points.

  • Finals in playoffs are Best of 3 matchups.

  • There are some extra roster restrictions for Contender and Invite Division teams.

Social Updates

PC

• When you add a friend, you can now paste or type a full Riot ID (including tagline) into the "Riot ID" field and it will automatically split the data into the "Riot ID" and "tagline" fields.

Console

• We've updated the communications menu so it's easier to manage team and party voice on the fly.

• We've added Voice Chat to the Settings page. Now you can tailor your mic behavior and voice settings to suit your setup.

Bug Fixes

PC

• Fixed an issue where Iso's shield hitbox could be misaligned.

Console

• Fixed an issue with Jett's Tailwind (diagonal dash) that was reducing the dash length.

Competitive Systems

Console

• Fixed an issue in Team Deathmatch where you would incorrectly see DRAW as a final result in EOG screens

• Added specific scoreboard screens for Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch

Gameplay Systems

All Platforms

• Fixed a particle issue when using ADS on the Level 3 and 4 Mystbloom collection.

• Fixed an issue when exiting Cypher's Spycam that caused Cypher's hands to stutter for Spectators.

Console

• Fixed issue where both Focus and ADS sounds would play during transitions.

• Fixed Leave Game menu persisting through AFK idling.

• Fixed animation bug with Leave Game Menu.

Maps

Abyss

• Fixed several unintended boost positions.

• Fixed bugs allowing players to get under the map.

• A Site cover should now properly appear in Omen and Astra smoke targeting world.

• Fixed an Omen exploit allowing him to get between the spawn barriers. 

Social

Console

• Fixed an issue where the friends list would sometimes display inaccurate platform information for friends.

Known Issues

General

Console

• When navigating Surrender menus, there's a chance your controls can become locked for an entire round. Due to this, we've elected to disable the Surrender and Remake menus until we can properly fix the issue. Draw will remain functional.

Premier 

PC

• When changing the Stage in the dropdown on the standings page, the content doesn't refresh. To see accurate standings for past Stages, change the Stage, then change division or zone and the content will update.

• The standings page sometimes fails to update, and you may see fewer teams than expected. Click on another tab in the Premier Hub and then return to standings to fix the issue.

• If you are in Contender or Invite and are awarded a Bye during Weekly matches, you will not see that match recorded in their Premier Match History tab. You will be awarded a win and 100 Premier Score as expected, and that is reflected correctly on the standings.

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