Patch Notes 1.12: updates to the Observer, social panel, and a lot of bug fixes

After a very unfortunate timing of the release for Patch 1.11 that went live during the qualifiers to the biggest series of the events, First Strike, the VALORANT developers decided that the next update won't be such a game-changer comparing to the previously shipped patch.

Patch 1.12 is focusing mainly on the improvements to the Observer and social panel, small changes to the competitive mode, and introduce a lot of bug fixes.

The next patch after 1.12 might be added to the game not earlier than December 8th, 2020, once First Strike Finals will come to an end in all regions.

COMPETITIVE UPDATES

• Act Rank Badges are disabled in-game while we investigate a potential issue where they may be causing performance hitches in-game. Your Act Rank Badge will still display in Competitive lobbies, map load in, and on the end-of-game screen.
  • The Competitive team will continue to investigate the system to work towards a holistic fix in a future patch.
  • Big shout out to Kevin.

GAME SYSTEMS UPDATES

Observer

• Observers no longer hear ping audio
• Improved sightline visibility in well-lit areas
• Added Game State Modification cheat to allow moderators to adjust various aspects of the game (player stats, money, etc.) in a tournament setting
• Rolled back fixed team colors change from 1.11
  • This was causing some confusion as people have started to associate red with attack, and green with defense
  • There were a couple bugs causing certain UI elements to display in the wrong color
  • We plan to bring this feature back in the future, when we finish adding support for custom team colors.

SOCIAL UPDATES

• We have redesigned the Open/Close Party toggle to make it easier for players to understand whether they are in an open or closed party
• Observers will now appear as “in game” in the social panel
• Observers can now view and type in /all chat in custom games

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Added a new user interface for custom game observers during character select

BUG FIXES

• Fixed a bug where leaving/disconnecting from a Custom Game would result in a VAL-51 error, requiring the game to be remade in order for the player to rejoin
• Fixed a bug in the end-of-game screen after an Icebox match that displayed Haven’s map, and would incorrectly display timeline markers
• Fixed issue where players could target mid-air (dropped) weapons with some abilities
• Left handed mode: fixed recoil animation being incorrectly mirrored (mismatching actual weapon recoil)
• Fixed overlapping Observer UI when a player is planting/defusing
• Fixed inconsistent team coloring on minimap pings
• Fixed rare issue where Observer camera transition visuals could get stuck when swapping between player views