Riot Games double down on leavers and smurf accounts

Riot Games previously mentioned the internal actions being discussed to combat smurfs in VALORANT, in addition to revealing the upcoming PBE server coming in the future to test agents and maps before their official release. The latest version of Ask VALORANT brings back the topic for discussion and an update on what the developer is doing to address the situation.

Having one of your teammates go AFK, or simply leave the match, certainly hurts your chances of winning. A slight change was introduced in update 1.14, changing the requirement to play ranked mode to winning 10 games instead of simply playing 20. Unfortunately, the community doesn’t see this as a sufficient requirement as high ranked players will find no issue in winning the required 10 matches.

“Getting an AFKer in your match is definitely tilting, and we're looking into ways to lessen this type of behavior in game. To start off, you'll notice that we are implementing an update in 1.14 that changes the requirements to unlock ranked mode to "games won" rather than "games played." We hope this will force players who are just spam farming matches to actually participate in play and strive for wins. Look for more details in the upcoming patch notes.”

“Second, we are working on better detection of this type of behavior that will lead to harsher punishment. We're looking into things like rank penalties, experience mitigations, longer queue time restrictions, and even bans if it comes down to it. We want to distinguish between disruptive behaviors that stem from comms and gameplay, and then penalize accordingly,” explained VALORANT Producer Sara Dadafshar.

In addition to the already existing reporting system, VALORANT players are asking for the option to block other people so they never get them when queueing up. Sara continued answering the questions, admitting it is an idea the development team is considering to implement. However, they would like to experiment with other forms of penalties and disruptive behavior restrictions before allowing you to block other players.

“Interesting idea! There's some nuances we'd have to work through to ensure queue times don't significantly increase, but we understand how frustrating it is when you get matched up with someone who you just reported in the prior match. We'll think on this a bit, but know that we are currently working on better detection of disruptive behaviors in hopes of being able to appropriately administer penalties and hopefully lessen the number of players you wouldn't want to play with to begin with,” explained Sara Dadafshar.

What other features do you want to see on VALORANT in the upcoming patches?