In 2024, Valorant continued solidifying its position as one of the most popular esports disciplines worldwide. The game broke its own records, delivering not only new agents, maps, and a plethora of updates but also thrilling tournament productions and unexpected events on the professional scene. This year brought many unforgettable moments. Let’s revisit the key events and achievements of Valorant in 2024.
In this article:
- Map updates, rotations, and the first new weapon in Valorant
- The disbandment of Evil Geniuses’ championship roster
- Another loss for the Valorant scene
- The beginning of the new Valorant Champions Tour season
- Team merchandise debuting directly in Valorant
- Masters Madrid and its record-breaking moments
- The release of a new agent — Clove
- The Start of the Valorant Champions Tour League
- Masters Shanghai 2024
- The new map Abyss
- The announcement and release of Valorant on consoles
- Annual charity events from the Valorant community
- The start of the final stage before Champions
- Champions 2024
- The second and final agent in Valorant for 2024
- The transfer window
Map Updates, Rotations, and the First New Weapon in Valorant
At the start of 2024, the Valorant community received substantial news about the upcoming Patch 8.0, which not only included agent balance changes and bug fixes but also updates to the Icebox and Lotus maps, map rotation adjustments, and, for the first time, the addition of a new weapon. Patch 8.0 launched on January 9, 2024, nerfing Killjoy, buffing Deadlock, introducing the new sniper rifle Outlaw, and updating the maps and map pool.
Current map pool in Valorant at the beginning of 2024:
- Ascent
- Bind
- Breeze
- Icebox
- Lotus
- Split
- Sunset
The Disbandment of Evil Geniuses’ Championship Roster
Evil Geniuses, the team that won Champions 2023 and became the strongest Valorant team, began to disband due to the organization’s financial difficulties. The club resisted releasing its players, keeping them in what the Valorant community called a "contract prison." Evil Geniuses parted ways with almost all other esports divisions and issued an ultimatum to their Valorant players, demanding significant pay cuts while promising additional bonuses from skin sales.
By the start of 2024, the only remaining member of the championship roster was Alexander "jawgemo" Mor, who eventually left the team as well.
Evil Geniuses’ Championship Roster:
Another Loss for the Valorant Scene
On January 20, 2024, Santeri "BONECOLD" Sassi, the first world champion, announced his retirement from professional play. In 2021, he won Champions 2021 — the inaugural Valorant World Championship — with Acend. Although his career could have continued for many years, this victory remained his first and last major achievement in Valorant.
His final tournament was the VCT 2023: EMEA League, where he competed for Team Vitality. The primary reason for his retirement was a loss of motivation to practice for 5-6 hours daily.
BONECOLD's Career Highlights:
| Date | Place | Tournament | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-12 | 1st | VALORANT Champions 2021 | $350,000 |
| 2021-03-21 | 1st | VCT 2021: Europe Stage 1 Masters | $60,000 |
| 2022-08-05 | 2nd | VRL 2022: Finals | $35,630.84 |
| 2021-09-17 | 5th-8th | VCT 2021: Stage 3 Masters - Berlin | $25,000 |
| 2021-07-11 | 1st | VCT 2021: Europe Stage 3 Challengers 1 | $17,815.51 |
The Beginning of the New Valorant Champions Tour Season
In February 2024, the first tournaments of the Valorant Champions Tour series kicked off across all four competitive regions: EMEA, Americas, Pacific, and China. The Kickoff tournaments determined the two best teams from each region, securing their spots at Masters Madrid 2024. Besides earning slots, teams competed for ranking points, which were used to select additional squads from each region to participate in Champions 2024.
Winners of the 2024 Kickoff Tournaments by Region:
- Sentinels (Americas)
- EDward Gaming (China)
- Karmine Corp (EMEA)
- Gen.G Esports (Pacific)
First Team Merchandise in Valorant
On February 21-22, 2024, depending on the region, players were given the opportunity to purchase skins of their favorite Valorant Champions Tour teams for the first time. A VCT capsule shop was introduced in the game, featuring 33 teams (excluding Chinese teams, which were added later). The capsules included:
- Classic skin
- Player card (not included for Chinese teams)
- Charm
The team capsule could only be purchased as a complete set. All items were styled after the teams with their logos, making them fully exclusive and currently unavailable for purchase.
Masters Madrid and Its Record
Masters Madrid 2024 took place from March 14 to 24. Eight teams from around the globe competed for the trophy and a $500,000 prize pool. This was the first international tournament of 2024, where teams showcased their updated rosters assembled during the offseason.
The event broke all possible viewership records: the grand final between Gen.G Esports and Sentinels, with Sentinels emerging as champions, was watched by 1,665,000 concurrent viewers. Notably, even Champions 2024 couldn't surpass this milestone.
Masters Madrid 2024 Prize Distribution:
| Place | $ USD | Participant |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $350,000 | Gen.G Esports |
| 2nd | $200,000 | Team Heretics |
| 3rd | $125,000 | G2 Esports |
| 4th | $75,000 | 100 Thieves |
| 5th-6th | $50,000 | Paper Rex |
| 5th-6th | $50,000 | FUT Esports |
| 7th-8th | $35,000 | EDward Gaming |
| 7th-8th | $35,000 | Fnatic |
| 9th-10th | $25,000 | FunPlus Phoenix |
| 9th-10th | $25,000 | Leviatán |
| 11th-12th | $15,000 | Dragon Ranger Gaming |
| 11th-12th | $15,000 | T1 |
Introduction of a New Agent — Clove
Before the grand final of Masters Madrid 2024, a show match introduced a new agent, Clove. Released with Patch 8.05, Clove was one of the two agents launched in 2024. At the time of writing, Clove has become one of the strongest and most popular characters in ranked play. However, on the professional stage, Clove has not gained much traction. Teams continue to prefer other controllers like Omen and Viper, often overlooking Clove.
The Start of the Valorant Champions Tour League
Following Masters Madrid 2024, teams returned home, and in April, the first and most crucial stage of the regional Valorant Champions Tour league began across all regions. The results not only determined which teams earned slots for Masters Shanghai 2024 but also set the stage for their positions in the league’s second phase, as their results carried over. Ultimately, 12 teams (three from each region) secured spots for the final Masters of 2024.
Winners of VCT 2024: Stage 1 by Region:
These teams gained an advantage at Masters Shanghai 2024, starting directly in the playoffs, while the remaining eight teams competed in a Swiss-style group stage.
Masters Shanghai 2024
On May 23, the final Masters tournament of the year, Masters Shanghai 2024, began. Twelve teams competed for a prize pool that doubled the previous one, reaching $1 million. The event was marked by the first success of the young Team Heretics, the continued dominance of Gen.G Esports, and the announcement of a new map before the grand final.
Prize Distribution for Masters Shanghai 2024:
| Place | $ USD | Participant |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $350,000 | Gen.G Esports |
| 2nd | $200,000 | Team Heretics |
| 3rd | $125,000 | G2 Esports |
| 4th | $75,000 | 100 Thieves |
| 5th-6th | $50,000 | Paper Rex |
| 5th-6th | $50,000 | FUT Esports |
| 7th-8th | $35,000 | EDward Gaming |
| 7th-8th | $35,000 | Fnatic |
| 9th-10th | $25,000 | FunPlus Phoenix |
| 9th-10th | $25,000 | Leviatán |
| 11th-12th | $15,000 | Dragon Ranger Gaming |
| 11th-12th | $15,000 | T1 |
The New Map Abyss
During a show match preceding the Masters Shanghai 2024 grand final, a new map, Abyss, was revealed. It launched with Patch 8.11 and, after several weeks of testing in unrated and other modes, was added to the competitive map pool.
Competitive Map Pool in Patch 9.0:
- Abyss
- Ascent
- Bind
- Haven
- Pearl
- Split
- Sunset
Announcement and Release of Valorant on Consoles
In June 2024, Riot Games announced a closed beta test for the console version of Valorant, allowing players to apply for access. The beta test began on June 14, and selected players received invitations to try the game on Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5.
Cross-platform play with PC was unavailable, but players could log into their primary accounts on the console version, retaining all progress (except for ranked mode).
Annual Charity Event by the Valorant Community
As in previous years, Riot Games released the Give Back Bundle in 2024, featuring four skins from various collections, chosen by players through social media voting.
50% of skin sales and 100% of accessory sales were donated to a donor fund supported by Impact Assets. The total donations reached $3.5 million, $800,000 less than the previous year.
The Start of the Final Stage Before Champions
June was packed with events in the Valorant world. Alongside the earlier highlights, the second phase of the VCT league began in all four regions. Teams competed for slots at Champions 2024. The top three teams earned direct invites to the World Championship, while a fourth was determined based on ranking points accumulated throughout the season.
After the stage concluded, the 16 teams advancing to Champions 2024 were:
Champions 2024
Before the start of the year’s main event, Champions Seoul 2024, Riot Games delighted the community with new features, including an in-game Pick’Ems with exclusive rewards and a new tournament bundle, with 50% of its proceeds distributed among teams. Partnered teams received an equal share, with additional portions allocated to Champions 2024 participants.
Through the Champions Bundle and VCT capsules, $44.3 million was distributed among teams.
The tournament itself was unforgettable. The group stage saw the elimination of the top favorite, Gen.G Esports, while the championship title went to EDward Gaming, an unexpected victor. The team won $1 million and the title of the world’s best.
The Second and Final Agent of 2024
In August 2024, during Champions 2024, Riot introduced a new agent, Vyse, the game’s 25th. Unfortunately, unlike Clove, Vyse failed to gain popularity among players. Instead, Vyse became one of the weakest and least used agents in the game.
The Transfer Window
After all the events and the season concluded, the transfer window opened, bringing excitement akin to the season itself. The 2024 transfer period was marked by numerous roster changes, including surprising moves of top players to new teams and the signing of young talents by VCT teams, giving them a chance to prove themselves in 2025.
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