VALORANT’s Instagram account is wiped, and it has something to do with Viper

Odd behaviour from VALORANT’s official Instagram account indicates that something is to happen imminently with Viper, but it’s not clear exactly what. Some have wondered whether a rework may be imminent, while others have theorised new skin lines, lore updates, or even a new game mode could be on the cards.

VALORANT Instagram wiped

Keen-eyed followers noticed that sometime around January 3rd, VALORANT’s official Instagram had been scrubbed, with all prior content gone. Across the space of five hours, four new posts were made, all either themed with Viper’s poison aesthetic or overtly featuring the agent herself.

The first showed a smartphone with a group chat featuring Viper, Breach, Sova, and Yoru. In the chat, Viper — who appears to be the phone’s owner — had written two messages;

“since when have we become so comfortable with defeat?”

“they would never allow this many failures”

An additional unsent message read, “we have to act”.

The next post showed Viper standing in front of a chalkboard. Writing on the chalkboard included chemical formulas for bleach, ammonia, and monochloramine, which, when combined in chloramination reactions, can lead to nasty smells if done wrongly. Other formulas included those for barium salts, and a modified set of coordinates appears, most closely identifying a location in Michoacán, Mexico.

Then, the third post, a video, shows Viper stating, “If you won’t fight to protect your world, then get out of my way,” while surrounded by fumes. Finally, another video shows a Brimstone statue in a mountainous area on a normal, sunny day, before the environment suddenly turns dark, with a green mist flowing.

Viper rework, skins, lore, or a new mode?

The unusual activity certainly points to something Viper-related going on, but exactly what is currently a mystery.

Users quickly guessed that a rework for the agent might be on the way, and while this could be the case, the timing seems unlikely. With less than two weeks until the 2026 competitive season begins, and some pros already questioning the lack of clarity with incoming changes, further disruption would go down like a lead balloon in the pro scene.

Another option could be a new skin line themed around the agent’s toxic, poisonous aesthetic, while some sort of lore event or update based on Viper is also a sensible guess.

One other reason guessed by some is the arrival of a new game mode. This appears a very plausible theory given content of the social media posts, however these also back up a lore update prediction.Viper’s statements around defeat, failure, and protecting the world may well point to some sort of objective-based mode, the latter a possible hint to a PvE format, such as the seasonal Swarm and Odyssey Extraction minigames in League of Legends – Riot Games’ other large title.

The group chat would indicate that it would be a multiplayer mode, though that’s mostly a given since VALORANT is an online multiplayer game.

Finally, the line “if you won’t fight to protect your world, then get out of my way,” combined with the change in environment of the Brimstone statue video indicate a takeover, one that Viper could either be leading or defending.