Valorant Agent 31: Hush Revealed – Leaks Fact-Checked

After Miks arrived in March 2026, things went quiet around new Valorant agents – until Riot showed Hush on October 18. Before that, the rumor mill was busy: first a social media post naming “October 18,” then an October 17 reveal date and a duelist role. On this page we keep cleanly separating what is official, what sits in the game data (we query the Valorant API directly and regularly) and what has only been reported so far – and we show which leaks turned out right. On top you get Riot’s reveal pattern of recent years, a role analysis of the roster and the timeline up to release.

What we know for sure (as of October 28, 2026)

Let's start with the foundation. These points are not leaks but verifiable facts – from Riot’s official channels and straight from the game data (queried through the community API valorant-api.com):

So it’s settled: Riot stuck to its pattern and used the Champions final as the stage for the new agent again – just like Veto in Paris in 2025. The release followed on October 27: Hush has been playable since patch 13.09.

Agent 31 leaks fact-checked: what turned out true

The discussion started with an Instagram post from a Valorant creator: “Based on the rumors there might be New Agent 31 will release around 18th October in game.” That was a rumor about rumors – no datamine evidence and no named source. More solid leaks followed: on September 29, dataminer valohabercisi reported the duelist role, and on October 2 VALORANTLeaksEN wrote that the new agent would be revealed on October 17. Since the reveal on October 18, every claim can be checked – our traffic-light source check as of Oct 28:

Fact-check verdict: the most important leaks were right – the duelist role, a Chinese origin and a reveal during the Champions final. What was off: the exact date (October 17 instead of 18) and the alleged copy ability. The sequence matches what we expected: reveal on the finals weekend, playable a few days later in Act 6.

Riot's reveal pattern: why everything points to the final

Riot has staged new agents by the same script for years: first small in-game teasers (objects on maps, voice lines, Battlepass cards with codenames), then the big trailer moment in front of millions at the biggest esports event – and a few days later the agent is playable. The most recent examples:

Three times in a row – Vyse 2024, Veto 2025 and now Hush 2026 – it followed the same script: trailer during Champions, release a few days to two weeks later. For Hush there are nine days between the reveal (Oct 18) and the release with patch 13.09 (Oct 27). Our forecast – reveal on Oct 18 in Shanghai, playable within one to two weeks via an Act 6 patch – has come true.

Which role does Agent 31 have? Duelist Hush in the roster analysis

Riot doesn't hand out new agents randomly – it balances the role structure over the years. This is what the playable roster looks like since patch 13.09 (Valorant API 13.09, checked on Oct 28) – Hush has joined the duelists:

By pure balancing logic, an initiator was due: the initiators have waited longest by far for reinforcement – since Tejo in January 2025. Riot still chose a Duelist: with Hush the already largest class grows to nine agents, while initiators stay at seven. Breaking the pattern like that isn’t new – Clove (controller, 2024) also arrived “out of turn” back then. So the datamine leak from Sep 29 predicted the role correctly.

Codenames & datamines: how agent leaks are born

To help you judge future reports yourself, here's a look behind the scenes of the leak community. New agents almost always announce themselves through the same traces: first, codenames in game files – every agent carries an internal project name (Veto circulated under its codename for a long time; Miks' sound theme was hiding in a Battlepass player card). Second, map teasers: Riot likes to place physical hints on maps before anything goes official. Third, audio files and voice lines that dataminers comb through after every patch. And fourth, cinematics at esports events, where upcoming agents sometimes appear in the background.

Looking back, Agent 31 followed exactly this path: there was never a confirmed codename, map teaser or audio finding in the client. Official were Riot’s statement in the Sep 14, 2026 dev update that a new agent is planned after Champions, the first image on Riot’s Weibo account (Oct 10), the teaser video “FINAL WORD” (Oct 15) and finally the reveal trailer “RISE AND FALL” on Oct 18. Before that, the leak scene delivered the duelist role (valohabercisi, Sep 29), the Chinese origin (Oct 11) and the October 17 reveal date (VALORANTLeaksEN, Oct 2) – role and origin were right, the date was one day off. Since Oct 28 the Valorant API game data (version 13.09) contains Hush too – with the codename “Paprika”, keybinds and the images from the game data.

The timeline: from the first leak to Hush’s release

Our update promise: this page was checked on each of the dates above and updated the same day when news broke – the latest check is the “Last updated” date at the top; the last big change was Hush appearing in the game data (October 28, 2026).

What it means for you: how to prepare

A new agent changes more than Agent Select. Three practical thoughts on Hush’s release: First, plan your unlock – Hush is free through the recruitment event (200,000 XP within 28 days of release) or instant for 1,000 VP; according to Riot Support, Kingdom Credits can only be used after the first 28 days – then 8,000 KC according to the VALORANT Wiki (all options at a glance). Second, plan your VP budget: between the Act 6 Battlepass (since Oct 14) and the bundles currently in the shop, a lot adds up – the next Night Market is in our date tracker; our VP calculator helps you buy smart. Third, since Hush is a Duelist: a look at the other duelists is worth it – our agent guides explain how the class plays, and you can slot the newcomer straight into our agent tier list maker later.

And if you want to stay in the loop without scanning leak accounts daily: this page brings together everything essential – with a visible as-of date whenever the facts change. Follow the esports side of the fall in parallel in our Champions live hub with all 16 teams.

📊 Since October 27 with Hush: how well your rounds with her – and with every other agent – really go is shown by the free Valorant-Spind app for Windows: opening duels, survival rate and best agent per map, all from real matches, local and without login.

Three scenarios – and which one came true

Scenario A – the pattern scenario (came true): Riot shows Agent 31 during the Shanghai finals weekend, and the agent becomes playable a few days later via an Act 6 patch. That is exactly what happened: Hush was revealed on October 18 ahead of the grand final, with the release via patch 13.09 on October 27. So the circulating dates of October 17 and 18 referred – as we suspected – to the first appearance, not the release.

Scenario B – the late mid-act release (didn’t happen): Riot only teases in October and ships the agent in November or December. With the release on October 27, this scenario is off the table.

Scenario C – the 2027 season kickoff (ruled out): the agent would have skipped the fall and launched in January like Tejo. But Riot’s trailer explicitly says “Season 26 // Act VI” – the current act, which ends on January 6, 2027. Roughly seven months after Miks, the new agent therefore arrives in 2026. The as-of date at the top always shows the last check.

Checking leaks yourself: the skeptic's toolkit

You don't have to take our word for anything – that's the whole point of this section. To verify Valorant rumors yourself, you only need three tools. First, the Valorant API (valorant-api.com, a community API not run by Riot): it reads the game data from the game files and answers the core question “is anything in the client yet?” in seconds – the /v1/agents endpoint lists every agent, /v1/seasons every act with its start date. The moment a 30th playable entry appears there, release is hours away at most. Second, a short list of established leakers: accounts like ValorLeaks or VALORANTLeaksEN have worked with datamines for years and label speculation as such – if THEY name a date, it has substance. Third, the Riot calendar: act dates, the patch cadence of roughly two to three weeks and event dates are fixed; any rumor that contradicts them is almost certainly wrong.

And how do you spot unreliable reports? Three red flags: an exact date without a source (serious datamines name the finding – file, player card, audio event). Screenshots without context, which take two minutes to fake. And phrasings like “based on the rumors” – a rumor citing rumors isn't news, it's a game of telephone. The original October 18 post ticked all three boxes at once – and its date still turned out right in the end, though for the reveal, not the release. That wasn’t insider knowledge, simply Riot’s most likely reveal date.

What a new agent means for the meta, tier lists and your rank

An agent release is not a cosmetic event – it's the biggest meta intervention Valorant knows. The last few newcomers showed a recurring pattern: for the first two weeks the new agent is banned or picked in almost every lobby, win rates swing wildly, and Riot usually adjusts within one or two patches. For your ranked life that means: expect more chaotic matches from release day on – if you test the newcomer early in the Range and in Unrated, you’ll have a measurable edge in Competitive, whether you play the agent yourself or just have to survive against it.

As a Duelist, Hush joins the largest class in the game. At Champions 2026 the pros mostly ran Neon (in 65% of team compositions) and Yoru (31%), while ranked is dominated by Jett (23.6%) and Reyna (19.3% pick rate; Platinum+, patch 13.08, valking.gg). A newcomer has to displace these comfort picks – something recent agents only managed with a clear unique selling point, and a telekinetic kit with a steerable flash and a pulling projectile is exactly that. Hush has been playable since patch 13.09; a solid verdict follows once there’s enough match data. You can already slot her into our tier list maker yourself.

Looking back: how the last three reveals actually played out

Patterns are easiest to see in examples, so here are the last three agent reveals in fast forward. Vyse, August 2024: for weeks only a codename circulated, then metal vines appeared as map teasers shortly before the Champions final in Seoul. The reveal came on Aug 23, 2024, the first day of the arena stage in Seoul – two days before the final; Vyse became playable a few days later with the act change. Veto, October 2025: an almost identical sequence at the Paris final, this time with a detail that matters for our forecast: the release fell mid-act – so Riot doesn't necessarily wait for an act start. Miks, March 2026: the exception that proves the rule: a Masters reveal rather than Champions, but with the longest teaser run-up so far – the sound codename sat in a Battlepass player card weeks earlier, and the community had correctly guessed the agent's theme long before Riot showed anything.

The lesson from all three cases for October: watch less for alleged release dates and more for teaser density. As soon as unusual objects appear on maps, a player card in the Act 6 Battlepass carries a strange name, or voice lines hint at “someone new,” the countdown starts – historically that means two to four weeks to go. With Hush it went by the book again: Weibo image on Oct 10, teaser video on Oct 15, reveal trailer on Oct 18 – eight days from the first official hint to the trailer.

🌍 How the agents are connected and why Agent 08 is missing: explore the Valorant lore universe.

💰 How many agents you have unlocked also counts toward your account’s value – work it out with the account value calculator.

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