Valorant Episode 8 Act 1 Release Date and Time in India

After announcing the significant changes in the upcoming Valorant 8.0 patch and new act, fans eagerly await to get their hands on the latest update. With the 8.0 patch, players will enter the new Episode, Episode 8 Act 1, featuring prominent agent changes alongside the arrival of a new cinematic, which might answer Omen's dark past and reveal why ISO was sent to take down Omen. 

Valorant 8.0 patch featuring Episode 8 Act 1 is expected to go live on 08 January 2024 around 02:00 PM PST or 09 January 2024 at 03:30 AM IST. Valorant will release a new cinematic "RECKONING" on 08 January 2024 at 6:00 AM PST or 7:30 PM IST. The game servers will go down after the end of the Episode 7 Act 3, i.e. the previous act.

Also Read: Xbox Game Pass January 2024 Games Announced For Console, PC, And Cloud

Valorant Expected To Release Episode 8 Act 1 On 09 January 2024 Around 3:30 PM IST

Over the past few days, Valorant teased the upcoming Episode's storyline, which will revolve around Omen. While Omen is known to be a monster, he hasn't always been the same. Valorant Episode 8, along with the new cinematic RECKONING, Omen and Valorant fans will get the answers to all the questions related to Omen's past and why Hourglass company sent ISO to kill Omen. The X (former Twitter) post by Valorant about the upcoming cinematic says:

It's about time we got some answers.

The new cinematic will be live on Valorant's official YouTube Channel on 08 January 2024 at 06:00 AM PST or 07:30 PM IST. Regarding the release of Episode 8 Act 1, Valorant hasn't confirmed the release date or timings. Based on the end of Episode 7 Act 3 and the update timeline, Riot might release the 8.0 patch and Episode 8 Act 1 on 08 January 2024 around 02:00 PM PST or 09 January 2024 at 03:30 AM IST.

A new Episode comes with a new Battle Pass, skins and patch updates. The Episode 8 Act 1 Battle Pass can be bought for 1000 Valorant Points and will feature Guardrail, Fiber Optic and Tactiplay skinlines and Guardrail Hammer melee. In addition to the Battle Pass, Valorant will launch the Kuronami Skin bundle for Spectre, Vandal, Marshal, Sheriff and Knife. The bundle can be bought for 9,500 VP, whereas the cost per skin will be 2375 VP. Valorant will also be adding a new sniper called Outlaw in the game.

Another major change for Episode 8 will be the map rotation and structural changes to Lotus and Icbox. In the upcoming Episode, Icebox will replace Haven in the map rotation. The map rotation for Episode 8 will be Icebox, Lotus, Sunset, Breeze, Ascent, Bind, and Split. 

Episode 8 will nerf the beloved sentinel Killjoy and buff the newly added Deadlock. Killjoy's Turret's (E) field-of-view vision radius has been reduced from 180 to 100 degrees. To increase Deadlock's presence in the agent pool, Riot buffed her by increasing her Barrier Mesh's (E) length to 10m. Players can also recall Sonic Sensor (Q) back, increasing the pickup distance to 27m.