Answering questions about the VALORANT replay system

After five years, the replay system is finally coming to VALORANT, and the developers have addressed some of the most common questions about the new feature. For casual players, it might not seem like a big deal, but for those looking to improve by analyzing their mistakes, it could be a game-changing tool.

Sometimes, it’s hard to grasp exactly what happened during a clutch moment, and the replay system will now help shed light on those situations. However, there are a few important details about this feature that could change how you experience this update. The VALORANT team provided answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

The replay system is coming to VALORANT with patch 11.06, releasing on Sept. 16 (or Sept. 17, depending on your time zone) for all regions, except China, where it will arrive on Oct. 9 local time.

For consoles, the feature will launch with patch 11.10, meaning it will be available on Nov. 11 or 12, depending on your region, at 9 a.m. PT.

There are many things you can do with a replay file. From changing POVs and skipping rounds to jumping to any moment in the match, here’s everything you can do:

However, this new system brought some questions that you might want to have addressed to better understand this feature. We are here to help you with that.

After completing a match, you'll see a small icon to download the replay file. You'll find it either on the match or your Career page. Then, you can evaluate your performance and understand what you need to work on in the future.

Definitely not. This feature is nothing more than a way to help you grow in the game. The developers have worked to ensure that the replay system "upholds the best possible gameplay parity between the game you played and the replay file, without impacting your game's performance."

Currently, you can only see replays of your own matches from Unrated, Competitive, Swiftplay, and Premier. This functionality is not available for Custom games "because of the wide range of configuration options they include," Riot clarified. However, that option isn’t off the table. The team will be listening to player feedback as they determine the next steps for the replay system.

If the previous matches happened before the patch release, the answer is no. The feature is only available for the games played during patch 11.06, which means that you won't be able to view the replay of previous and future patches.

No, you can't. So far, the system does not support the tournament realm, but the team will evaluate further use cases over time.

No, it does not.

To edit the replay settings, all you need to do is check out the new "Viewing" tab in the menu for more options.

There are no current clipping/sharing functions for replays. Right now, you can only download and view in your own client for the game you played in.

Elements like the pre-round shop or certain cosmetic effects don’t appear in replays because the feature only records essential gameplay information. Non-gameplay-related actions, such as inspect animations, flex uses, sprays, and similar effects, aren’t tracked by the server and therefore won’t show up in your replay.

The Replay system is showing you the server’s view of your game. There will be small variances between what you saw on your client and what the Replay saw on the server.

Higher pings on the player's client can affect what the server sees and even cause some movement discrepancies. This problem can also affect time manipulation in a file and delays in time jumping/skipping.

Due to variations in client and server ping, players may sometimes appear to move or aim in a way that seems unnatural within the game. However, this does not necessarily indicate that a player is cheating, nor does it serve as proof of cheating. If you suspect that you encountered a cheater during your match, please follow the standard reporting procedures, and Riot will investigate the matter.

Riot Games has identified some known issues that you also need to be aware of. Even if some might be fixed in future patches, others are inherent to the system and will continue to persist.

While you can toggle enemy outlines on or off to reflect the visual info available to each first-person POV, you cannot hide that info from the minimap or megamap. So even if you can’t see an enemy behind a wall with outlines toggled off, you will still see them on the minimap.

Ability minimaps like Brimstone’s Sky Smoke, Clove’s Ruse, Tejo’s Guided Salvo, Armageddon, and others will not be viewable in a Replay. From that player’s first-person POV, you will see the Agent raise their hands when placing the abilities, but there will be no in-game map to see exactly where they’re being placed. Once the abilities are deployed, the minimap and in-game world will show the abilities.

Similar to the ability minimaps above, ability placement markers like Killjoy’s turret outline, Deadlock’s Sonic Sensor preview, Cypher’s Trapwire preview, and others will also not be viewable when a player is placing them in a Replay. You will see the player equip the ability and the animation when the ability is deployed, but no preview placement markers will be visible until the ability is placed.

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