The initial testing phase of a new “deterministic map system” has begun, according to the VALORANT Patch 4.04 notes. It’s starting in Latin America and is expected to expand to other regions in the “next few days” if no issues are found.

“The goal of this system is to increase the variety of maps that players will encounter,” according to the official patch notes. The system will supposedly follow these rules, after the players have been secured for a match, taking mode into consideration.

1. Look at all the maps all the player have played over the past five maps for the specific mode being queued for.
2. Remove any maps that any player has played twice over the past five maps.
3. Select the least played maps.

If all the maps have been removed during the second stage of the process, then all the maps will be re-added and the least played map will be selected, according to the patch notes.

Playing the same map over and over has been a common occurrence for many VALORANT players. This system, in theory, should prevent players from having to play the same map back-to-back. The new system is live in LATAM and should be implemented in all other VALORANT regions soon, assuming there are no issues that arise.

VALORANT, compared to other competitive FPS titles like CS:GO and Siege, doesn’t have either a map selection or map veto process available in the base game, taking away an aspect of control the player has over their game. This could change over time following the introduction of more maps, but this new system at the very least makes the lack of control a little more bearable.

Episode Four, Act Two officially launches today, March 1.