Ever since it's inception, Fracture has always been a controversial map for VALORANT players. The map was a stark departure from the traditional map layouts from other tactical shooters like Counter-Strike. It felt like Riot trying to make their own map and trying to deviate from the CS:GO comparisons.

The atypical layout of Fracture, in theory, should make for an interesting map. Defenders are encouraged to take more map control and go for flanks, while attackers need to find a way to gain effective map control without splitting up too much. However, in practice, Fracture has been generally disliked by most fans.

After patches upon patches of minor tweaks or no changes, Riot has finally caved and made drastic changes to Fracture. Will VALORANT's player base be satisfied with these changes? Let's take a look at how Riot tweaked their most polarizing map to date.

Fracture Map Rework in VALORANT

A Twitter user named floxay leaked some of the updates to Fracture from VALORANT's Public Beta Enviroment (PBE). In this short 53 second video, you can see all of the drastic changes they made to the map. Let's take a look at each part of the map featured and see what changes were made.

We first start off from Fracture's Defender Spawn and head to A Ropes. Already, we see a difference, as the corridor has been narrowed significantly. To compensate, though, the window has been extended to become a catwalk of sorts. Attackers will now have a harder time clearing that side of the site during an A execute, as one smoke isn't enough to cover the entire angle.

We then go through A Drop, and there are more big changes with this location. The “drop” wall has been pushed back significantly, creating a cubby underneath for Fracture's defenders to hide. The boxes used to climb up to Drop were also replaced with a mini-ramp that is flush to the wall. Again, this makes it harder for attackers to burst out of Drop easily, as there are more angles to be cleared.

A Dish has perhaps been one of the harder places to take map control of for either team in Fracture. Either team is forced to take a 50-50 guess as to which side their opponents could be. The version on VALORANT's PBE live servers completely walls off one side, making it a smaller but more manageable duel for either side.

Moving to B Arcade, the difference is so noticeable from the moment you enter. The area feels more open, allowing for more movement and variety of angles that one can peek from. One of the common complaints of VALORANT players about Fracture is about how cramped the map feels. This change attempts to alleviate that.

The final change to Fracture is one that VALORANT players will love. For the most part, B Site on Fracture is pretty straightforward to hold. However, there's one small detail that annoys most players. There's a little jump to the main site platform that becomes a hazard when retaking. Unless you get lucky, you're most certainly going to get domed when you try to jump onto site this way. The update on the PBE eliminates this small jump, instead replacing it with a ramp that should make it easier to peek the default plant.

There could be more changes to Fracture that we didn't see from this mini map tour. Two big parts that weren't explored in the video were the attacker entrances from spawn (A Main and B Tree/Under). Perhaps the VALORANT team decided that these weren't too problematic, which is true. Will this update finally change the minds of those that hate Fracture with a passion?