The Valorant Night Market lets you grab discounted weapon skins through a personalized selection of randomized offers. This guide covers everything about the upcoming Night Market in Season 2026, from expected dates to eligible skins and the full history of past events.
What Is the Valorant Night Market?
Riot introduced the Night Market in patch v1.14 during Episode 01: IGNITION: Act 3 as an alternative way to pick up weapon skins outside the regular daily rotation and store bundles. If you've played League of Legends, it works a lot like the "Your Shop" feature there.
When a new Night Market opens, you'll get offers for six random weapon skins at discounts between 10% and 49%. You only get one set of offers per Night Market, and they stick around for a limited time before disappearing.
When Does the Next Night Market Start?
Expected Date for Season 2026, Act 1
The next Night Market should arrive before Season 2026, Act 1 wraps up on March 18, 2026. Riot typically launches Night Markets two to three weeks before an Act ends, which puts the estimated start date around February 26, 2026. The timing could still shift depending on Riot's schedule.
Leaked Dates and the Lunar New Year Connection
Multiple leak sources point to an earlier window of February 5th or 6th, 2026. According to these leaks, the Night Market might launch alongside the Lunar 2026 event pass and Year of the Horse themed content. There's still uncertainty about whether these dates apply globally or just to Chinese servers, since Riot usually rolls out Lunar New Year content in China first.
Looking at past patterns, global servers sometimes get the Night Market a day before China, and sometimes a few days after. If the February 5th-6th date turns out to be China-specific, global players might see the Night Market closer to February 10th-12th.
Current Act Timeline
Season 2026, Act 1 kicked off on January 7, 2026 and runs until March 18, 2026. New seasons roll out gradually across servers, so your exact timing might vary by region and time zone.
How the Night Market Works
The Basics
The Night Market is a limited-time personalized shop that pops up near the end of each Act. Since its debut in Episode 1, Act 3 back in December 2020, every single Act has featured a Night Market.
When yours opens, you'll see six randomly selected weapon skins at discounted prices ranging from 10% to 49% off.
Offer Guarantees and Restrictions
Riot added some rules in patch v2.02 (Episode 2, Act 2) to make sure everyone gets decent offers:
- Quality Floor: At least two of your six offers will be knife skins or Premium Edition gun skins. This guarantees some higher-value options in every selection.
- Weapon Type Cap: You won't see more than two skins for the same weapon. So no, you can't end up with three Vandal skins in one Night Market. The only exception is if enforcing this limit would prevent the system from generating six offers for your account.
What to Expect From Your Offers
Your six skins are completely random and tied to your account. Once they're generated, you can't change or reroll them. The system automatically filters out skins you already own, so everything in your Night Market will be new to your collection.
There's also an option to trade in some old skins, though the source materials don't go into detail about how this works.
Each Night Market runs for about two weeks before the offers expire.
Discount Breakdown
Discounts land anywhere between 10% and 49% off regular prices. Each skin in your selection gets a random discount, so some deals will be better than others.
How to Access Your Night Market
Finding It in the Client
The first time you log in after the Night Market opens, a prompt will pop up on the left side of the main menu showing your offers.
If you close that prompt or want to check your offers later, look for the Tarot card icon near the top right of your screen by the store tab. Click it to pull up your Night Market whenever the event is running.
Which Skins Can Show Up?
Eligibility Rules
Not every skin in Valorant can appear in your Night Market. The system follows specific rules:
- Select Edition skins
- Deluxe Edition skins
- Premium Edition skins
- Most knife skins from these tiers
- Exclusive Edition skins (with rare exceptions)
- Ultra Edition skins
- Gear skins
- Battle Pass skins
- Melee skins priced above 3,550 VP
- Any collection released in the last two Acts
Eligible Collections by Tier
Select Edition
Convex, Daydreams, Endeavour, Fortune's Hand, Galleria, Infantry, Intergrade, Luxe, Prism II, Reverie, Rupture, Rush, Sensation, Smite, Storm Maw, Switchback, Wonderstallion
Deluxe Edition
Abyssal, Altitude, Aperture, Aristocrat, Avalanche, Chromedek, Combat Crafts, Emberclad, Holomoku, Horizon, Kohaku & Matsuba, Luna, Minima, MK.VII Liberty, NO LIMITS, Nunca Olvidados, Orion, Prism, Sakura, Sarmad, Silvanus, Snowfall, Team Ace, Tigris, Titanmail, VALORANT GO! Vol. 3, Wasteland, Winterwunderland
Premium Edition
Aemondir, Black.Market, Bolt, Celestial, Crimsonbeast, Cryostasis, Doodle Buds, Ego, Forsaken, Gaia's Vengeance, Gravitational Uranium Neuroblaster, Helix, Ion, Magepunk, Nebula, Neptune, Oni, Origin, Prime, Prime//2.0, Radiant Crisis 001, Reaver (EP 1 & EP 5), Recon, Soulstrife, Sovereign, Spline, Tethered Realms, Undercity, Valiant Hero, VALORANT Go! Vol. 1, VALORANT Go! Vol. 2, Xenohunter, XERØFANG
V25 Act 3 Exclusive Exception
During V25 Act 3, Riot temporarily added three Exclusive Edition collections to the pool: BlastX, Glitchpop (EP 1), and Singularity (EP 1). Their expensive melees were still excluded. This looked like a one-time thing rather than a permanent change.
Coming to Night Market Soon
- Season 2026, Act 2: Nanomight (Deluxe Edition) joins the pool.
- Season 2026, Act 3: Reaver (V26) (Premium Edition) becomes eligible after completing its two-Act waiting period.
Full Night Market History
The Night Market has run in every Act since Episode 1, Act 3. Here's the complete timeline:
Season 2025
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 6 | December 11, 2025 | January 6, 2026 |
| Act 5 | September 25, 2025 | October 9, 2025 |
| Act 4 | July 10, 2025 | July 24, 2025 |
| Act 3 | June 5, 2025 | June 24, 2025 |
| Act 2 | April 9, 2025 | April 29, 2025 |
| Act 1 | February 13, 2025 | March 4, 2025 |
Episode 9
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | December 16, 2024 | January 7, 2025 |
| Act 2 | September 26, 2024 | October 22, 2024 |
| Act 1 | August 15, 2024 | August 28, 2024 |
Episode 8
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | May 22, 2024 | June 12, 2024 |
| Act 2 | April 10, 2024 | April 29, 2024 |
| Act 1 | January 31, 2024 | February 28, 2024 |
Episode 7
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | December 13, 2023 | January 8, 2024 |
| Act 2 | October 11, 2023 | October 30, 2023 |
| Act 1 | August 9, 2023 | August 28, 2023 |
Episode 6
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | June 14, 2023 | June 27, 2023 |
| Act 2 | April 5, 2023 | April 25, 2023 |
| Act 1 | February 15, 2023 | March 7, 2023 |
Episode 5
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | December 7, 2022 | January 4, 2023 |
| Act 2 | September 28, 2022 | October 11, 2022 |
| Act 1 | July 20, 2022 | August 2, 2022 |
Episode 4
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | May 18, 2022 | May 31, 2022 |
| Act 2 | April 6, 2022 | April 19, 2022 |
| Act 1 | February 9, 2022 | February 22, 2022 |
Episode 3
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | December 9, 2021 | December 21, 2021 |
| Act 2 | September 29, 2021 | October 12, 2021 |
| Act 1 | July 28, 2021 | August 10, 2021 |
Episode 2
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | June 2, 2021 | June 15, 2021 |
| Act 2 | April 8, 2021 | April 20, 2021 |
| Act 1 | February 11, 2021 | February 23, 2021 |
Episode 1
| Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Act 3 | December 10, 2020 | January 11, 2021 |
Dates can vary slightly by time zone.
Banner Teasers
Riot likes to use Night Market promotional banners to hint at upcoming content. Past banners have teased agents like Tejo, Vyse, Iso, Deadlock, Harbor, Chamber, Neon, Astra, and Yoru before their releases. Maps like Sunset, Abyss, Pearl, Breeze, and Lotus also got early previews through Night Market art.
Valorant's Season Structure Explained
Episodes vs. Seasons
Valorant originally used Episodes, with each Episode containing 3 Acts. Episodes ran for about 6 months, and each Act lasted 2-3 months.
In 2025, Riot switched to a Season format. Now a Season spans the entire year and breaks down into multiple Acts. Season 2025 had 6 Acts, and Season 2026 follows the same structure.
Act Schedule Reference
Each Act brings a new Battle Pass, new content, and a fresh competitive season. Night Markets show up once per Act, usually in the final two to three weeks.
| Season/Act | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Season 2026, Act 1 | January 7, 2026 | March 18, 2026 |
| Season 2025, Act 6 | October 15, 2025 | January 7, 2026 |
| Season 2025, Act 5 | August 20, 2025 | October 15, 2025 |
| Season 2025, Act 4 | June 25, 2025 | August 20, 2025 |
| Season 2025, Act 3 | April 30, 2025 | June 25, 2025 |
| Season 2025, Act 2 | March 5, 2025 | April 30, 2025 |
| Season 2025, Act 1 | January 9, 2025 | March 5, 2025 |
Getting the Most From Your Night Market
Smart VP Spending
With discounts ranging from 10% to 49%, some offers will be way better deals than others. When your Night Market opens, look through all six options before buying anything. Check which skins have the biggest discounts and weigh those against what you actually want.
Since you're guaranteed at least two knife skins or Premium Edition gun skins, those higher-tier items often deliver the best value when they land with strong discounts. A Premium skin at 45% off saves you a lot more VP than a Select skin at the same discount.
Your selection is locked for the full two weeks. If nothing appeals to you, your only option is waiting for the next Act's Night Market.
Timing Your Purchases
Just remember that global and Chinese server timing might differ, and regional content could vary. Nothing is confirmed until Riot announces it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Once per Act, usually two to three weeks before the Act ends. Every Act since Episode 1, Act 3 has had one.
No. Your six skins are randomly generated when the event starts, and they're locked in.
No. The system filters out anything already in your collection.
About two weeks from when the Night Market opens.
A few possibilities: the skin is less than two Acts old, it's an Exclusive or Ultra Edition, it's from the Battle Pass, it's a Gear skin, or it's a melee priced above 3,550 VP.
You're guaranteed at least two knife skins or Premium Edition gun skins. Beyond that, specific skins and discount percentages are random. Some Night Markets are great, some are mediocre.
Up to two, but not more. You won't see three Phantom skins in one Night Market.
Select, Deluxe, and Premium. Exclusive Edition skins are mostly excluded (with rare temporary exceptions), and Ultra Edition skins never appear.