Riot Games has temporarily disabled Neon in VALORANT on PC due to a newly discovered bug exploit tied to her Fast Lane ability.
The developers announced the decision today, saying they recently found a graphics exploit involving Neon’s wall ability that affected competitive integrity. Because of that, the agent will remain unavailable until VALORANT Patch 12.09 arrives.
The studio also confirmed that additional balance changes for the speedy duelist are already in the works and will launch alongside her return.
“We’ve also been working on some Neon changes for a while to address parts of her kit that are over-tuned, which will go live when she returns in 12.09. More details from our devs tomorrow,” Riot said.
Why is Neon disabled in VALORANT and when is she coming back?
According to the developers, the issue is tied to Neon’s Fast Lane ability, which creates two electrified walls that block vision as she rushes forward. The exploit reportedly caused unintended visual effects that could compromise competitive integrity in matches.
While Riot has not revealed the exact details behind the bug, players believe it may be connected to an NVIDIA graphics setting that makes Fast Lane significantly more transparent, potentially resulting in a “wall hack” as users are able to see through the wall more clearly than intended.
To prevent the exploit from being abused in ranked matches and professional tournaments, the devs quickly disabled Neon on PC while a fix is being prepared.
Neon’s temporary removal also comes amid heated community discussions about her overall balance. The high-speed duelist has been one of the more controversial agents in recent months because of her mobility-heavy kit and aggressive playstyle.
Riot has already confirmed that additional nerfs and adjustments to address some overpowered aspects of Neon’s abilities are coming alongside the exploit fix in Patch 12.09.
Neon is set to return in VALORANT Patch 12.09, which is likely scheduled for release sometime between May 12 and May 14, based on the game’s usual patch cadence after Patch 12.08 launched on April 29.
Until then, players who main the Filipino speedster will need to switch to another duelist while the devs work on the patch.
