VALORANT players finally have an official Replay system after years of waiting, but the lack of critical features has left the community frustrated, inviting massive backlash. Amid criticism over missing tools, especially the sharing function and Custom mode support, Riot has assured that it’s looking into feedback.
Riot Nu, tech lead for VALORANT, took to X (formerly Twitter) to explain that the current Replay system is only its “first version.” “We knew Replays would be regularly used by a subset of dedicated players, even though social chatter has always been high,” Nu said. Based on this idea, the dev team “researched” which features regular Replay users would likely want and prioritized those for the initial launch.
“We learned that the overwhelming majority of players use replay systems across titles to self-review their own games,” Nu revealed as a reason behind the decision to focus on pure gameplay reviewing first. “We focused on making sure the Replay experience in VAL is smooth, functional, and centered around clear gameplay.”
Emphasizing that the current Replay system is only a launch version, Nu promised that “further updates and enhancements are on the table,” and that Riot is hearing all the feedback. While the team is currently focused on rolling out the feature to consoles and the China region, support for Custom games has been confirmed to be on Riot’s “to-do list” for Replays.
But the biggest outrage isn’t about Custom game support. The community has been most vocal about the missing sharing/clipping function in Replays. The whole point of such a feature was to let players ditch third-party recording tools for a performance boost—but Riot decided it wasn’t worth prioritising. What has baffled the fandom most is that the developer took over four years to launch a much-requested feature, but still couldn’t think about incorporating a popular use case like sharing clips.
Thankfully, it does look like Riot is listening to the VALORANT community—or as Anna Donlon, Studio Head, says. When popular creator and analyst LotharHS encouraged players to “keep complaining” about the Replay system lacking a basic sharing feature, Donlon stepped in to reassure that Riot listens to feedback without the need for a “public outcry.”
“We’ve heard the early feedback on replays, we understand the perspective, we’re having conversations internally and we’ll update players with future plans,” she wrote in a reply to LotharHS on X. She also shared that the team is hoping to collect as much feedback as possible with the launch version, so that it can work on incorporating all that in upcoming updates.
Well, considering Riot’s reassurances, it’s likely that Replays will get better with future patches. Until then, the current version still offers a useful range of tools that help you break down your mistakes, identify your strengths, and work on improving your gameplay. Check out our comprehensive VALORANT Replays guide to make the most of it.
