Riot announces change to Valorant patch 5.03 release date cover image

Riot announces change to Valorant patch 5.03 release date

Valorant patch 5.03 will feature a game engine upgrade says Riot.

Riot Games has postponed the release of Valorant Patch 5.03 by a week after the conclusion of VCT Masters Copenhagen. Patch 5.03 will now release on August 9 allowing the game developers to bring necessary changes to the FPS title.

“We’re skipping our regular patch cadence this week to allow our engineers the time they need to upgrade our game engine,” Riot’s officiel Twitter handle said in an announcement.  “You can expect the next patch, Patch 5.03, to start shipping August 9.”

The official announcement says that the game engine will be upgraded. So players can expect a big change come August 9 with the Valorant 5.03 update.

When did Valorant 5.00 update release?

The last Valorant update came just days after the start of VCT Masters Copenhagen. The update brought about changes to Phoenix, Yoru and Kay/O. The update also launched a new smurf detection system, although it’s only launched in North America. Depending on its success, Riot will expand the system to other regions as well. 

As the Valorant 5.01 update was released days after the start of VCT Masters Copenhagen, the tournament continued on the Valorant 5.0 patch update. Players could compete at the International LAN event on the patch they had practiced on.

How will the update affect VCT LCQ 2022?

A young player looks on as <a href="https://esports.gg/news/valorant/fpx-wins-vct-stage-2-masters-after-paper-rex-win/">FPX</a> and <a href="https://esports.gg/news/valorant/paper-rex-first-apac-history-valorant/">Paper Rex</a> battle it out in the VCT Masters 2 Copenhagen Grand Finals. Image Credit: Riot Games.
A young player looks on as FPX and Paper Rex battle it out in the VCT Masters 2 Copenhagen Grand Finals. Image Credit: Riot Games.

The update will be released on August 9, days before the start of the Valorant Champions Tour Last Chance qualifier. The VCT LCQ features some of the best teams in every region competing for a slot at VCT Champions Berlin.

VCT Champions Berlin will feature sixteen teams in competition. Ten of these teams have already secured their place at the highest level of Valorant competition. The remaining six teams will come via the LCQ tournaments that kick off in August.

Here are the LCQ slot distributions for a chance to qualify for VCT Champions:

  • NA Last Chance (1 slot).
  • SA Last Chance (1 slot).
  • SA Last Chance (1 slot).
  • EMEA Last Chance (1 slot).
  • East Asia Last Chance (1 slot).
  • APAC Last Chance (1 slot).

VCT Masters Copenhagen was the first international Valorant LAN event featuring a live audience. The tournament was sold out for the Grand finals and featured an energetic crowd cheering for their favorite teams. EMEA”s FunPlus Phoenix won the event, but it was a very closely fought series against APAC’s Paper Rex. 

With the Valorant patch 5.03 update releasing days before the LCQ, it will be interesting to see how teams adapt to any changes.