Valorant night market update breaks old rules and adds free event rewards

The Valorant community just hit a plot twist. The “leaked” night market poster that everyone trusted was never real, and Riot has now tossed out the old two-act rule in favor of a brand-new cutoff that changes which skins can even show up. Add in a stack of free Game Changers rewards, and this update is shaping up to surprise both collectors and competitive players.

Riot confirms the viral night market poster was fake

Riot has stated that the night market poster going viral is fake and wasn't an actual night market release date. The supposed November 20 night market poster went viral on social media before it was confirmed by Riot that it was just an internal graphic used as a placeholder. The company is still working on the official night market schedule.

What is confirmed is that the night market will be available in the time frame surrounding this year's Champions Game Changers event. So, although players have a good estimation of when the event will take place, the actual launch date for the event is still not known.

Night Market Overhaul: Bye to the two-act system

The old way of doing things in Valorant's night markets is finally gone: the predictable two-act system that always saw a weapon bundle become eligible for discounts after a couple of months. That rule is being replaced with a new one. The upcoming rotation has another rule change: only skins from before Magepunk 3.0 will be eligible; anything newer, even if it technically met the old timing rule, is being blocked. This is a pretty drastic cut and means several bundles that players were really looking forward to are now off-limits.

What can you look forward to this cycle?

• Magepunk 3.0, Reaver 2.0, and other pre-Magepunk 3.0 bundles will be available.

• Exclusive, premium, and ultra-tier skin melee items still can't get discounted.

• Anything released after Magepunk 3.0 is completely out of the rotation and won't be up for grabs.

If you want to check whether your favorite bundles are in or out, Rios has done a list for you to check.

Free stuff for watching games & making predictions

The night market's not the only thing getting a shake-up; free rewards are rolling out for players who participate in Pickem predictions or tune in to official broadcasts. The good news is these don't need a single Valorant point, so everyone can get in on the action.

Pick'em Winners Get These Rewards

• You'll get the Aura Farming rank for just showing up.

• If you place in the top 50%, you get a Pocket Killjoy buddy for your trouble.

• If you do even better and make it to the top 20%, you'll score a Golden Pocket Killjoy, buddy.

• And if you nail all your picks perfectly, you'll get a Perfect Pick rank.

Twitch drops for watching the games

• Log in to Twitch and watch the official matches between Nov 20 and Nov 29 to grab the Go Off rank.

• Then watch the grand final on Nov 30 to snag the Kay/o Punch spray.

Things to Look Forward To

While the night market has been confirmed, we don't yet know when it will actually take place. However, as we've mentioned before, there will be a much stricter cutoff on what skins qualify for the night market and a full slate of free Game Changer rewards that will launch alongside it as well.

Therefore, we are expecting this cycle of the night market to be different than any other so far this year. Even though there will be fewer skins in the discount pool, we will have all of the bonus XP from the rewards to keep things interesting.

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