Fracture

"Seeing the husk of the facility...it's the people. All those...people...Brim they weren't even soldiers. They were scientists. They didn't have a chance to..."

- Killjoy commenting on the ruins of the site

 (codenamed Canyon) is the seventh map to be released in VALORANT.

Summary
''"A top secret research facility split apart by a failed radianite experiment. With defender options as divided as the map, the choice is yours: meet the attackers on their own turf or batten down the hatches to weather the assault."

Fracture is a top-secret experiment site split apart by a radianite-fueled disaster. In its simplest form, the map is marked by its H-shape layout with a visual split down the middle that reveals contrasting sides. Long ziplines also connect routes underneath. Like previous maps, keep an eye out for heavy tie-ins to VALORANT lore, including first-time interactive narrative objects.

Map Features
Fracture's unique design splits up the map into four neutral quadrants, four central areas between the quadrants that contain the sites and Attacker spawns, and a central zone where Defenders spawn. On Round Start, Defenders can access the sites, which are on opposite sides of the map. Attackers all spawn in one area, but can reach the other side by using the cross-map ziplines that take them underneath Defender Spawn. During the Buy Phase, Defenders are unable to hear Attackers using the ziplines.

Each quadrant contains one orb, meaning Fracture has a total of four orbs as opposed to the usual total of two orbs that are present on most other maps.

A Hall contains an automatic door that works similarly to the exit room doors for Bind's teleporters, as it will instantly open once a player gets close enough, making a loud audio cue as it does, and will also open for any abilities thrown towards it. This door on Fracture however will also open for entities on both sides of the door.

Ziplines
Fracture features two parallel one-way ziplines that bisect the map. These ziplines do not act like ziplines found on other maps, and have special rules to their interactions:


 * Upon attaching, the player will automatically move across the zipline at full speed
 * Whilst attached, players cannot:
 * Change directions
 * Use abilities
 * Detach
 * Stop (although you can still slow yourself down holding Shift)
 * If the spike carrier drops the spike or gets killed whilst using the ziplines, the spike will respawn on the closer side of the zipline.

Interactive Lore Elements

 * Additional article: Fracture/Lore

Whilst previous maps have had temporary interactive features and visual updates to show how the map relates to the story of VALORANT and the events that happened in these locations, Fracture is the first to have dedicated per-patch updates for its lore. These are interactive elements that can be found as yellow dots during the Buy Phase, and appear in both spawn areas

Quotes

 * ''Main article: Fracture/Quotes

Founding
The map is located within the Everett-Linde Research Lab, an American Earth 1 facility that was created from a partnership between Kingdom Corporation and Kingdom Industries. It was likely named after Hugh Everett III and Andrei Linde, who were both physicists who worked on theories about multiple worlds and universe expansion. The lab's presence was highly classified and not even some high-level executives from Kingdom Co. knew about it.

The lab was split into two halves that each housed one of the organizations; Kingdom Co. was located in Alpha Sector, calling themselves Alpha Kingdom, and Kingdom Ind. was located in Omega Sector, calling themselves Omega Kingdom. Each sector had its own tower, the purpose of which remains unknown. At the center below the main buildings was a Large Radian collider (LRC). Alpha Sector contained Robotics, Botany, an observation tower, and other scientific research facilities. Alpha Kingdom also built a couple of recreational rooms for their employees. Omega Sector contained a radar facility, a teleporter terminal, and a security room.

Whilst they may have been collaborating with each other, both Kingdoms did not appear to trust each other much. Site policies only allowed cross-organization communication with approved visitors and employees were required to display ID from their organization at all times. Both Kingdoms appear to have their own agendas. Alpha Kingdom talked about daring to dream better and that Earth's future needs to be "preserved". Omega Kingdom meanwhile talked about keeping secrets safe and that "stakes are high". Omega appeared to be a much stricter organization who expected employees to work with little socialization. To go with this serious approach was imagery of an Earth split in halves, a possible hint towards something the organization and Mirror Earth inhabitants were working to avoid.

Research
""They were light years ahead of [VALORANT] with their LRC program...The data on radianite exposure, the biome acceleration...""

- Killjoy commenting on the lab's research

The research conducted at Everett-Linde thanks to the LRC was reported to be very advanced. Their activities included studying radianite and its exposure effects, robotics, and biome acceleration. The lab also contained the only teleporters known to exist that could allow for travel between Earths.

Due to the experiments and elements being used at the lab, an event occurred that affected the surrounding environment, causing it to be split in two halves. The Alpha Sector became rich in plant life and green surroundings, whilst Omega Sector became dry and barren with a dusty orange appearance. This transformation was enormous, affecting the surrounding land for miles beyond the lab, though whether it has reached as far as settlements like Santa Fe is not known. It was the aftermath of this event that drew the attention of a VALORANT Protocol agent.

Destruction
The facility was destroyed by Chamber and his mirror counterpart when they simultaneously fired shots that intercepted each other within the LRC. Whilst the fate of employees on site at the time has never been revealed, they seemed to have disappeared in some way that got family members asking Alpha Kingdom questions.

When recalling these events, Chamber implies that they destroyed the collider due to the opportunity it created. He acknowledged the partnership between the two Kingdoms had to be sacrificed to make it possible, saying their efforts were noble and that it was a pity to bring their venture to an end. However, their work was not important enough to deter Chamber from destroying it for his own gain, whether his reasons were completely personal or along with someone he was working for.

Present day
Since Everett-Linde's destruction, the VALORANT Protocol has embarked on missions within the remains of the lab. One known operation was commenced by Viper and Cypher, wherein they were tasked to secure blueprints for a full Alpha-Omega teleporter that would allow travel between Earth-1 and Mirror Earth, which the organization wanted to replicate. After a full sweep of the facility, retrieving information about the teleporter proved to be unsuccessful despite several data recovery attempts from Cypher.

Sometime afterwards, Killjoy has reported making progress on developing the Everett-Linde portal, but is having some trouble finding a viable power source. According to Cypher, Chamber had managed to provide Killjoy with the blueprints needed for the project, with the German engineer managing to validate their legitimacy.

Update History
This section covers updates to Fracture's gameplay. For updates to its interactive lore elements, go here.

Trivia
Development
 * Map coordinates at 35°48'BI" N 106°08'YQ" W, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
 * The Radian Collider at the center of the map will occasionally pulse, making sound effects
 * Fracture's design that also allows defenders to be able to pinch attackers has some small inspiration from the Siege of Helm's Deep, a battle from the Lord of the Rings book The Two Towers

Navigation
Fracture