2021 has been a terrible year for map balance, specially for killers.

2021 is almost over, and while some changes to the game this year were good, others were quite bad. One thing that I think was particularly negative, specially in comparison to 2020, is how map balance was handled.

TL;DR: Map reworks and new map additions made the game more unbalanced and less fun. Now there are fewer killer-sided maps and even more survivor-sided ones.

First off, let's see what was positive about map balance this year:

The Crotus Prenn Asylum rework. That's it. Two maps had a few issues solved, like their really strong main buildings.

Now, everything map-related that was bad:

The Game (Gideon Meat Packing Plant) rework was terrible. It went from one of the few killer sided maps that still had a few things going for survivors to one that not only is insanely survivor sided as also really boring, with god pallet after god pallet, no mindgames, no strategy, no gameplay.

The maps from Coldwind Farm were known for years as some of the most survivor-sided ones, and the rework managed to make them worse! None of their issues were touched, but they gained new hay tiles that are big enough to waste some of the killer's time but low enough so survivors can see the killers through them, making mindgames impossible. Also, breakable walls were added to previously fixed loops and even visibility in the corn has decreased a little bit. Not to mention it's harder to see scratch marks on them now.

RPD was added as a map... and looks like the devs ignored all they had acknowledged about map balance in the past while making this one. Enormous size, loops that range from useless to broken, and it even has at least one infinite. It's miserable to play on it for both sides, but sure as hell it's much worse if you're the killer. Good luck trying to protect the gens or apply pressure on such a huge area, or to catch survivors on the strongest loops.

And to make matters worse, Hawkins was one of the few maps that were still good for killers. It was removed. That also means one less maps to try stealth builds.

Then there was the newest map addition: Eyrie of Crows. While I loved its visuals, there is one thing that I found very problematic and that should be avoided: the map is huge. I mean, the total area isn't that big compared to many maps, but it suffers from a similar issue to Ormond: there are loops, hooks and even generators spread through all the area, even on the edges, which means the area you have to walk is actually ridiculously big, which is a problem for applying pressure if you are playing a killer with no mobility like Myers, Clown or Deathslinger. A map big like that being retctangular means that the distance for crossing the map can be potentially even bigger, putting Ormond to shame and making the "Hold W" thing even more annoying. Eyrie of Crows also has another problem that wouldn't be that big of a deal a while ago, but it is due to Boon Totems: The main building has totems on its second floor that, in case you hear them from bellow, can take quite some time to go up the stairs, snuff it and go back, while it affects multiple floors, which has already shown to make Circle of Healing really, really powerful. And all of that not mentioning the loops on the main building.

Overall, we lost two killer-sided maps, gained three survivor-sided ones (two of them are quite unfun for survivors as well), and some of the worst maps for killers got even worse. Map design is one of the main issues of this game's balance, and it took a few steps back this year. I believe The Game, RPD and the Farm maps need to receive layout changes as soon as possible, but unfortunately I don't have any hopes it will be done in less than a year, maybe even two, considering map reworks are so stagnant right now and the devs didn't show any plans to change already reworked maps. All of this is really disappointing.