The next Valorant map will take place in Lisbon, Portugal

Since the integration of Fracture in Valorant, the map pack remained unchanged. While no information has been made official about the next map, there are many indications that it will be in Portugal, and more precisely in Lisbon.

The return of Rúben Pontes

When it comes to spotting clues about future agents or maps, the training ground is the place to watch closely! With the arrival of the patch 4.09, the outer painting has changed its visuals. The picture of Fade has been replaced by another character, namely Rúben Pontes.

This individual is no stranger to the Valorant lore, quite the contrary. Since the appearance of Fracture, a number of emails were circulated on the map. It was in these emails that we met Mr Pontes. As you probably know, there is another world in Valorant, a mirror world, similar to Earth-01, the Earth. Rúben Pontes is a scientist from Omega who lives in this other world. In the various emails, he has spoken at length with the Earth scientist, Oran, who works on behalf of Alpha.

It is important to clarify who this person is to understand where the next map might be located. In a Q&A that took place on Reddit in March, the developers redirected the community to the emails of Fracture. However, the majority of these email exchanges involved Rúben.

The new map located in Portugal ?

On closer inspection the table In the first picture you will notice the Omega logo. But this one points directly to a particular country. Do you have it? Portugal indeed! This clue is just one of the many left here and there by the developers.

In the last Battlepass, the one from Episode 4, Act 3, in addition, there are a host of rewards, including a player card, entitled 'Yellows on Rails':

This one shows a yellow tram, line 27, which is reminiscent of the iconic tramway line 28, available in the Lisbon city :

Moreover, if we look at the famous email exchanges that were broadcast on Fracture, we understand that Rúben lives under a geo-dome. We also learn that he was supposed to return soon. This last element brings us to the next clue.

On Fracture, there is a transport area, via some kind of teleporters. You can get there, if you activate the ghost mode in the custom part. Like in an airport, there are a table with the departures. What do you think is the destination of the next journey? Bingo. It's Lisbon, all right!

As if all these elements were not already convincing, further clues can be found by looking hard. Our investigation now leads us to the trailer for Episode 4. If you pay particular attention to the details of the video, you can stop at 2:47. In this scene, a plan can be seen posted on the wall behind Raze.

Looking on the net you can easily find detailed maps of Lisbon, but there is one map in particular, the one available on this site, which may catch our attention. The two images seem completely identical, which leads us to believe that the next map will take place in Lisbon once again.

Finally, if we dig a little deeper into Fracture's emails, we find this email from Aurora, Rúben's niece. It has an interesting detail. She mentions the possible opening of the geo-dome, because tide forecasting would allow it. This means that this dome is under water, at least part of the time.

Now return to the Battlepass card. The tramway is actually located under water, this is because there are fish just above the line. By linking this email to the fish and the tram, we get further information that suggests that Rúben is going home to Lisbon, or at least to a city inspired by it.

Moreover, one of the two figures visible in the carriage is wearing glasses. From the photo available in the training ground, it could well be Mr Pontes himself.

What's new with the next map?

The developers are keen to introduce new visual and mechanical features when creating new maps. If the next map is indeed linked to the city of Mr. Pontes, the first novelty is that it will be the first map in the Mirror World.

Moreover, if it is really located under a dome, itself immersed in the sea bed, one can expect a unique panorama for this next map, since none of the maps already in play meet these criteria.

In addition, the mails told us that this famous city is a "modern wonder". This episode revolves around teleporters and the creation of a bridge between the two worlds. So we can imagine the addition of new means of transport on the map, a bit like the teleporters in Bind.

Finally, with a city under water, one can also envisage a lack of luminosity in the streets, if it is deep enough. This idea could join the concept night maps, already mentioned by the studio in a Q&A.

For the moment, no data has been made official by Riot Games regarding the next map of Valorant. We don't know its release date either. However, it is possible that it will be included in the FPS during the first act of Episode 5, which is still over a month away.