The Valorant replay system is officially here, and now that it’s live, here’s all you need to know about it.
Ever since the game’s release in 2020, fans have been asking Riot Games to add an in-game replay system to Valorant, an essential feature for any competitive title. Riot acknowledged these requests early on and began exploring with how to make the system possible given the game’s engine. However, implementing it has proven far more complicated than players expected. In early 2024, Riot explained that Valorant’s systems run entirely on real-time multiplayer sessions, and since replays weren’t planned from the start, adding them now would require major changes.
It seems those challenges have finally been overcome. In a lengthy blog post, Riot has confirmed that the Valorant replay system is live, with support for Unrated, Competitive, Swiftplay, and Premier. PC players will be able to access it right away in patch 11.06 on September 16 or 17, depending on the region, with a rollout in China to follow on October 9 in patch 11.07b.
At the end of each map, an icon to download a replay will appear on the career page in Valorant. Clicking the replay icon will download the file.
The feature brings a full suite of viewing tools, including first-person perspectives from all ten players, a free third-person camera, and controls that enable users to slow, fast-forward, or pause the action at will. Matches can be scrubbed round by round or jumped through via a timeline marked with kills, deaths, and ultimate ability usage, while elements like player outlines, the mini map, HUD, and combat report can be toggled on or off as users prefer.
Credit: Riot Games
The feature will allow players to review and analyze their matches in detail after they end. However, it’s worth noting that replays won’t be available for custom games at launch, meaning professional teams and coaches hoping to study their scrims will still have to depend on third-party recording tools for now.
One thing to keep in mind is that replays only work for the four game modes played on the current live patch. And once a new patch drops, older replays will become incompatible. For example, a match from patch 11.06 won’t be viewable after patch 11.07 goes live.
Replay support is also on the way for the console version of Valorant, with the feature slated to launch in patch 11.10 on November 11 or 12, depending on the region.
While Riot is releasing the replay system on PC, the console launch will have to wait, likely because the feature still has a few lingering bugs remaining. In fact, Riot has flagged known issues affecting the mini map that will impact even PC users at launch. Currently, the mini map doesn’t display agent abilities while they’re being deployed. As a result, actions like Brimstone and Clove’s smokes, Tejo’s Guided Salvo, or Armageddon won’t correctly appear on the mini map during replays. A fix for the issue is planned for a future update.
Featured image credit: Riot Games
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