Since VALORANT is one of the biggest titles in the industry, it requires the utmost care to pull off such precision and team-based gameplay without accidentally plaguing it with bugs and glitches. Players will point out issues on platforms like Reddit and Twitter, but providing an ecosystem that won’t impact the other main servers is essential for a game that updates regularly.
Agents get nerfed, weapons get buffed, and bombsites get reworked to create an exciting and challenging arena for gamers to test their might.
But, sometimes they’ll do an update so big it might require some tweaks here and there. This is where Public Beta Environments (PBE) come into play.
How does the VALORANT PBE work?
The PBE realm gives players the opportunity to test out new features, updates, and changes to the VALORANT meta. Once a patch rolls out, players will get to access the limited-time VALORANT PBE. With each patch, there’ll be one weekend for players to dip their toes into and find out what needs changing.
Once dates are locked in, the VALORANT test realm opens on Friday at around 4pm PST and closes the following Monday morning at around 11am PST.
When is the next VALORANT PBE?
The VALORANT devs are gearing up for another PBE on Friday, March 10, 2023, at 4pm PST, paired with a new patch notes announcement. This particular environment update follows the new massive patch Riot put into place at the beginning of this year.
It’s expected to run for at least four or five days. If the VALORANT devs stick to their usual schedule, it will close on Monday, March 13, 2023.
Last time around, the PBE was open from Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, and closed Monday, Feb. 6.
PBE 6.02 will be an environment for players to test out things related to the new matchmaking Elo system, maps like Split or Lotus, and changes to guns that stick out in the meta.
PBE testing grounds are essential for a game that changes on a dime. It’ll snuff out problems that impact matches and irritate the players who elevate the meta. The last thing Riot Games wants is for their players to leave as a result of a buggy experience.
Who knows, Riot might want to flip the community’s whole world upside down by introducing a new revolver that rips the game to shreds (looking at you CS:GO).
