The Kalahari desert map has been officially revoked from ranked matches in Garena Free Fire. First introduced in November 2019 for the classic mode, the map came to Rank in June 2020. However, Kalahari seems to gradually lose its popularity among players, some even find it frustrating to play ranked matches on this map. In response to the community’s negative feedback, Garena will remove the desert from competitive mode starting from Season 18.

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The barren desert of Kalahari now leaves the competitive scene in Garena Free Fire

Official Announcement from the Garena Free Fire Team

After receiving continuous complaints from the community, Garena has officially announced the decision to remove it from the competitive scene. Whether the map would return to this mode or not depends entirely on the players' opinion. According to the Official Free Fire Brazil Instagram page, the decision came after the results of a recent survey:

Free Fire Br Announcement On Kalahari Removal
The official announcement from Free Fire Brazil

Not too long ago, Purgatory experienced the same fate. It was removed then later added back to the game due to the community's feedback.  However, the removal of Kalahari seems to be happening on the Brazillian server first. Garena has yet to announced the change on other servers.

Why Garena Removed Kalahari Map from Ranked Mode?

Kalahari is not the first choice of many players. It's a challenging map due to its small size, the abundance of campers, high terrain, and limited cover. Finishing early in ranked matches sets players back baby a whole lot of points. That's why encountering this map continuously drives many crazy.

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More often than not, you will come across campers on the hills

The map also offers very few locations to drop, increasing the risks of getting taken down early even more prominent. The map is perfect for campers to thrive outside of drop zones. Those who land on lower grounds will definitely lose their advantage in this fight. So, removing the Kalahari Map from Rank seems to be the most sensible move. Garena will only open it for play in classic mode.