Riot Games has just confirmed the identity of Valorant's new Agent 22. The Los Angeles native called Gekko will be the game's sixth initiator, and as his codename would suggest, the 22nd agent overall. His arrival was announced following leaks and rumors during the last day of the kick-off Valorant tournament for VCT for this year: LOCK//IN. Here's everything you need to know about Gekko.

Valorant Agent 21 Gekko Release Date: March 7, 2023

Gekko will be joining Valorant as a playable character as Act 2 of Episode 6 begins on March 7, 2023, under patch 6.04. This makes Gekko the first character to be added to the game for this episode, and the first since the introduction of Harbor back in October. Following Gekko, another agent, a Sentinel, will be added later in 2023, with the year capping off with a third agent with an unconfirmed role towards the tail end of the year.

Gekko was recruited by Reyna

Gekko hails from the Mexican-American neighborhood in East Los Angeles, making him the game's third American character. The new character is of Mexican-American heritage, although the American culture that he grew up in clearly has an influence on his style – like his fondness for skateboards and basketball as well as his use of social media to make reels of himself. Based on the trailers and teaser materials, Gekko has been recruited to the Valorant Protocol by the Mexican agent Reyna, who the character can communicate with in Spanish and English. It also seems like Gekko is acquainted with Neon. Some images also relate him to Jett and Brimstone, who he affectionately calls “Beard Papi”.

Gekko can plant and defuse from far away – An Overview of Gekko's Abilities

Unique to Gekko is the ability to plant and defuse the spike without being beside it, giving this new agent a powerful tool in his arsenal. His abilities make use of his little buddies called Dizzy, Wingman, Mosh, and Thrash: gooey little creatures with hardened carapaces of unknown origin. Gekko's abilities are as follows:

Dizzy (E) – Gekko sends Dizzy in a direction. Dizzy then shoots plasma at enemies in sight, flashing them. Dizzy then becomes a globule with which Gekko can interact, allowing Gekko to re-use the ability after a short cooldown.

Wingman (Q) – Gekko sends Wingman in a direction. Wingman then shoots a concussive blast at the first enemy it sees. If targeting a spike site, Gekko can send Wingman to either plant or defuse the spike if Gekko has the spike in his inventory. To activate the spike option, players need to press the alternate fire button. Wingman then becomes a globule that can be picked up for re-use.

Mosh Pit (C) – Gekko throws Mosh like a grenade. Once it hits the floor, Mosh explodes into a gooey mess covering an area that expands as Mosh duplicates itself before exploding for damage. Pressing the alternative fire button will make Gekko make an underhand throw instead of a lob.

Thrash (X) – Gekko throws Thrash and links his mind with the creature to control its movements. Thrash can hit enemies to explode and detain them for a short duration. Just like Dizzy and Wingman, Thrash can also be collected for another charge after a short cooldown, although only once per round.

Gekko's kit is not only unique – it has the potential to shake up the meta. Particularly his ability to plant and defuse without having to be on-site is definitely useful, but his ultimate ability also disables his opponents if in case it doesn't kill them outright, giving him a strong 1v1 potential. We're looking forward to how Gekko will change the meta and not whether or not if he will, because just judging by his kit, he definitely will.