Valorant Premier officially kicks off with Ignition

Premier is officially here, starting patch 7.01 in Valorant. 

An in-game esports circuit has been in the works for over a year now, with Valve dropping teasers and details occasionally. Premier has now been in the beta for over a month, and now Valve is opening doors for all to pave their way towards the big stage in Valorant. 

Valorant patch 7.01 will mark the beginning of the Premier Ignition Stage, the in-game competitive Valorant. 

Premier is officially in Valorant

Premier came out of the beta on July 11, but the enrollment begins on July 20. This means casual players still have more than a week to prepare their roster of five. New players can find out more about Premier and its rules here. 

Premier is starting from scratch with Ignition, so you’ll have to make or join a new team this time. This means the beta progress doesn’t transfer to Ignition. However, your team and match history will carry over from Ignition to the launch in August, so choose your team name carefully. (You can’t change it later!)

Matches start on July 20 and run through August 12, with Playoffs on August 13. Earn a Premier Score of at least 375 by August 12 to qualify and to have a chance to be crowned one of the best teams in your Division. 

For the first week, players will be locking horns on Bind. For each, there’ll be a new map, with the tournament culminating in playoffs after four weeks on August 12. Here are the four maps Riot has planned for Premier Ignition: 

• Bind
• Split
• Lotus
• Ascent

Premier mode is one of the most hyped features in Valorant, with the first alpha going live in October of 2022. Now more than six months later, all Valorant players have access to test the new feature. In addition to giving the average Valorant player a competitive experience, top-rated teams may also get opportunities to join the esports world of Riot’s tactical shooter.