Sunset

Sunset is the tenth map added to VALORANT. Currently, it is one of seven maps playable in competitive and unrated. Set in Los Angeles, the map prominently features a Kingdom facility and its surrounding area.

Lore[]

Sunset is located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood in East LA. This map takes us straight to Gekko's stomping ground and to a major Kingdom facility built in the middle of the tight knit community of East LA^[1]. The residents idea of Kingdom's presence in the middle of a residential area with kids and families is mixed at best, mainly unfavorable and reflected in the annoucnements we get around the map away from the facility in the form of a radio show hosted by Nina Cruz.

Main Kingdom Facility[]

The initial introduction to the Kingdom West Facility was through events leading up to recruitment of Gekko. The facility stayed on the VP's radar since then; Kingdom West is the main facility visibile from defender spawn, in which Project Landfall was being researched and developed. After the events of SUNSET Cinematic, the Interverse Portal got destroyed by the VALORANT Protocol, causing Kingdom to abandon the project. The destruction of the portal which was located in a large underground chamber, left a massive sinkhole in the middle of the main parking lot in front of the main Kingdom building's entrance.

Other than the sinkhole, the portal's explosion has fractured the top of a nearby clock tower and causing the fragments of the building to float in the air, similar to how the church dome was affected in the map Ascent. The distinct texture of the interverse portal is clearly visible inside the sinkhole and in the fractured part of the clock tower. Part of the facade of the main building is also affected by the explosion. Cypher's surveillance truck, disguised as a taco food truck "On the Low Tacos" can be seen sitting right on the edge of sinkhole.

There is speculation that the origins of the underground chamber which housed the interverse portal was due to certain experiments done by Kingdom which led to an extra-natural seismic event in the location of the facility resulting in opening up of this underground space in facility grounds and the formation of the portal. This event was documented in a Kingdom internal E-mail in patch 6.07^[2]; These speculations however remain unconfirmed.

In the southern side of the parking lot and passing right under the highway adjacent to the facility, Kingdom seems to have built a tunnel potentially to facilitate specific transportations. The large logo of the company adorns the top of the entry way.

The bomb sites are not directly in the main facility building and the map has the player walk through the nearby alleys and this way showcases both cultural background of the map and how Kingdom has been gradually expanding their presence in the neighborhood. A-site seems to be an extension of the facility grounds into the residential area specifically as part of the Transportation Hub of the compound. Multiple signs across this section of the map shows only Kingdom personnel are allowed access to the location; Warning signs indicate the existence of dangerous materials and enviornments and that the locals need to keep out. Several large cargo trucks can be seen parked nearby (the area behind A elbow) indicating A-site is most probably part of the the loading dock for the facility. A large RCU (Radivore Containment Unit) is sitting in the middle of A-site and many more RCUs can be seen in the parking area behind A-site and in the small office in the southern corner of the site.

Various billboards belogning to Kingdom around the map bear the logo "Eyes on the future". This quote had also made an appearance in the GREATER THAN ONE Cinematic.

Backdrop of East Los Angeles and Cultural cues around the map[]

Moving past Kingdom's presence over the neighborhood, cultural staples of LA can be seen throughout the map specially as we move closer to the mid section and B site. From Art Deco style and Mission Revival Architecture to various graffitis that Riot sourced from LA based artists, can be seen across the map in different locations. ^[3]

The mural along the side of the Daytrip Skate shop in attackers spawn features the work of LA/ Hawaii graffiti artist og-slick

The spiral script piece in Attackers Spawn framed beautifully on the Mantis Ltd. Vintage shop is the work of LA and Hawaii Artist _cryptik_

LA/Boyle Heights graffiti artist Atlas provided the his iconic cat characters that can be seen on a wall and bullboard near the Defender Spawn.

The auto repair shop "The Fix" can be seen in front of the Defender Spawn, Two highly modified cars are visible inside the auto shop. This shop along with other tuned cars seen around the map is a nod to the huge custom car/hot rod culture of southern California and LA; This cultural cue was also showcased in the GREATER THAN ONE cinematic with the DEDCYPR Lowrider . A small skate park can be seen behind the Transportation Hub in A-Elbow; That section of the map as well as the skate shop "Day Trip" in Attacker Spawn area serve as another cultural nod to origins of skateboarding being from Los Angeles, California.

The diverse and multicultural nature of LA is reflected specially well in the market area leading to B-site. An open air flea market called "Junction flea market" can be seen from B-Lobby as well as various coloful food trucks peppered in a park that stretches along the side of the map. The cafe 1126 seems to be a hangout spot that sits close to the flea market and Radio station Heatwave 94.5 is usually playing in the background.

The " Market Mejor" complex in mid section houses most of the area's small businesses, including a small italian deli, La Pupuseria offering Central American food, the local Boba shop "Dream Bubble" and a small Vietnamese noodle shop "Phônamenal". Paul Delmann's mentioned in one of the announcements in the map to have ordered food from one of the food shops in this section of the map called "Hurm Burger". Homescreen from patch 7.06 shows a mug from another food store in this market complex called "Cracked Breakfast" inside Cypher's surveillance truck; Finally A small Churro shop can be seen right outside mid market in mid bottom area. A Basketball court and the New Heights Recreation Center sit between Attacker Spawn and A main. According to the announcements from the radio the recreation center offers summer camps programs for kids in the community.

The Basketball court is also featured in GREATER THAN ONE Cinematic as Gekko and Dizzy play together there; The wall graffiti and court colors of this section tastefully fit Gekko's color theme as well. Sitting very close to the basketball court and right behind Attacker Spawn is Gekko's house where he and his mother lived prior to him joining the Protocol.

Other venues around Sunset include a small fitness place "spin to win" for which an ad can be heard in Heatwave 94.5 Radio channel as well as a Yoga studio "The Retreat", both visible in Defender Spawn. For a complete list of all local businesses in the map you can check the list of organizations in Sunset

Map Layout and Design[]

Sunset has the familiar set up of three lanes and 2 sites, setting the two teams up for mid control as well as either bomb site. Sunset has features from other maps, like Ascent’s open and closing doors which are also destructable, briefly opening up pathways that players can take. ^[4]

A Site[]

A site stands out stylistically from B site in a way that makes it clear it is an extension of Kingdom Facility, though the neighborhood's Mission Style architecture shows itself more clearly as one moves from A site towards Mid. It seems like Kingdom has been acquiring the neighboring pieces of land while expanding the facility site as well as attempting to minimize the locals' exposure to the hazardous environment. Kingdom's explanation for these attempts are not well recieved from the locals as highlighted in Radio host Nina Cruz' commentary over the situation:

As mentioned above, A site is mainly the facility's transportation hub; Kingdom Announcements in this section of the map clearly instructs all employees to wear protective gear and hazmat suits. All employees of this section are also expected to complete the mandatory training for radivore containment as many of the shipments in the facility contain living cargo, namely the radivores in special containment units; These units are expected to be inspected for integrity every 12 hours. It is implied that at least part of Paul Delmann's duties in the Kingdom West facility were overseeing parts of Transportation Hub. In the aftermath of the events of the Sunset cinematic an announcement asks employees to "cease all operations, remove all proprietary equipment and calmly evacuate to the nearest public intersection."

A Site Graffiti[]

A very large and distinct mural stands out in A-Elbow Section of the map; It reads "Abre los Ojos" (English translation: Open Your Eyes). This particular graffiti was first seen in Gekko's agent trailer as the back drop of the location Reyna and Gekko met up after the latter joins the VALORANT Protocol. The color theme of the graffiti being blue, red, black and grey with open blue eyes very similar to a nazar symbol, fueled a speculation about the graffiti being a possible hint about a vision Fade had in patch 6.0 about a potential threat to the world. ^[5] In addition to that, "Abre los Ojos" is also the title of a 1997 Spanish Sci-Fi film that deals with intersecting planes of dream and reality^[6]. These potential hints paired with Kingdom's slogan of "Eyes on the future" and the unusual nature of Project Landfall and unknown properties of the interverse could potentially hint at a link between the consequences of Project Landfall and the vision Fade warns Brimstone about, though this remains unconfirmed.

Mid[]

Sunset features a Mid that is fairly difficult to control and doesn’t really favor one team or another; it’s generally good for rifle ranges and opens up a bunch of opportunities for whichever team can take it.^[4] Mid section of the map serves as one of the enterances to the market place through a destructable door similar to the one seen on the map Ascent; It is the main place in the map where the Art Deco style of architecture meets the Mission Style part of the map as well. A brick monument stand in the center of the mid plaza gives it a distinct horseshoe shape and three palm trees stand beside an archway with a brass bell that connects Mid to the Defender Spawn behind Top Mid.

B Site[]

B site stands distinctly apart with its intricate architecture and the fractured clock tower in the middle. B site also offers two entraces to the market place through B-Boba and B-Market. The linear park along a small river is visible from the west side of B site through glass barriers with a setting sun motif fitting the golden hour of LA. The skyline of down town Los Angeles is also visible beyond tall palm tree on the west side. B-Lobby area also features an elegant Art Deco style building with distinct facade and glasswork that seems to be a mix of a theater and a museum showcasing various information and graphics about local landmarks and history of the neighborhood on various frames and stands.

B main Area with view of the sunset theater

The graphics inside the theater/museum showing the neighborhood landmarks

B site with a view of the tall fractured clock tower

Map Teasers[]

Early mentions[]

The very first mentions of the Kingdom facility in Los Angeles happens around the timeline of events that lead to recruitment of Gekko, since then the Protocol keeps the acitivies of the facility under surveillance and follows any internal Kingdom correspondence regarding the research of Project Landfall. In an attempt to replace Gekko's radivores, Kingdom attempts retrieving another radivore from a base in Svalbard, leading to the events of the UNMADE Cinematic. After Deadlock's recruitment and as concerns around Project Landfall grows Brimstone tries to stop the project by contacting an old friend; His attempt proves futile, forcing the Protocol's hand to take down the facility by force, resulting in the events of the Sunset trailer and officially Introducing the map.

In Game Teasers[]

Other than the Emails since patch 6.02 onward building the story arc about activities of the facility, the teaser for the map came in form of the Golden Hour card, obtainable at tier 50 of the Ep. 7 Act I battlepass.

Golden Hour
The Golden Hour card shows one of the streets of the Boyle Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles around sunset time, with Griffith Observatory visible in the background. This card is a teaser for Sunset.

Golden Hour

Card

Golden Hour

Banner

The final in-game teasers that makes it clear the Protocol will head to Kingdom West as a target location comes in form of Emails from Viper and Killjoy in patches 7.01 and 7.03 respectively, with Viper making it clear that If Kingdom refuses to shut down the facility the Protocol would shut it down through force, and Killjoy acknowledging Brimstone's struggle about making a move that can be seen as a betrayal to Kingdom.

Viper's email in 7.01 as seen in game

Killjoy's email in 7.03 as seen in game

Main article: Brimstone's Office

Social Media Teasers[]

Teaser 1[]

The social media campaign for map started with a short video on August 15th on the Official VALORANT twitter featuring Cypher and Deadlock in the On the Low Taco truck^[7]. In the video Deadlock brings Cypher a pen drive that helps him get a look into the Kingdom Facility. The location of the map is shown on one of Cypher's monitors. Multiple radivore containment units in different sizes can be seen in the surveillance images showing the scale of the project is much larger than previously thought. Kingdom employees are seen moving one of the units through the interverse portal. Deadlock hopes to be able to convince Brimstone to move to shut the facility down with the footage they find.

Teaser 2[]

The second teaser post on twitter was released on August 21st^[8] with an animated image showing Gekko and Wingman trying to calm down a very upset Thrash who seems to be very uncomfortable around the containment units Deadlock has prepared for them. In the background Chamber's seen working with Deadlock on modifying a phantom rifle. the twitter post seems to be written by Brimstone giving us a count down to the day of the mission:

Teaser 3[]

The third teaser post on twitter was released on August 22nd^[9], continuing the count down to the mission by Brimstone with another animated image showing Gekko and Reyna discussing the layout of the facility as Gekko knows LA the best among all agents and he has been the only one who has been inside and gotten out of the facility. Image of the map's loading screen and some pictures of the fleamarket can be seen on the monitor as well as part of the Interverse portal in another monitor in the back. The post reads:

Teaser 4[]

Teaser number four was posted on twitter on August 24th^[10]; The teaser shows Brimstone and Sova looking at a holographic scan of the facility with the interverse portal highlighted in pink in an underground level of the facility as the clear target of the mission. The post reads:

Teaser 5[]

The fifth and final post of the teaser series is released on August 25th^[11], showing the team that would handle shutting down the facility. The coordinates of the map can be seen in a back monitor. In the other monitors we see Cypher's surveilance feed from different locations of the map such as Pawn shop and the graffiti Abre los Ojos. Reyna can be seen looking at the schematic for interverse portal while Deadlock is seen holding the phantom rifle Chamber modified for this mission. The post, again written by Brimstone, reads:

Map Teasers in VCT 2023 Campaign[]

Some sections of the map was teased in a few scenes of the official music video Ticking Away for VCT 2023 event which also was hosted in Kia Forums, Los Angeles. The main sections of the map that were teased in the video were Top Mid section along with A-Elbow and the clock tower in B site.

a Screenshot of Ticking away music video showing top mid section of the map

a Screenshot of Ticking away music video with the B site clock tower visible in the background

a Screenshot of Ticking away music video showing Gekko in A-Elbow

Notes[]

• Sunset originally had a “poison pit” when it was in its development phase and any agent that stayed in it would recieve damage the same way a molly would damage the player.^[4]

References[]