Valorant Patch 7.07 Rolls Back Controversial Ranked Restrictions Following Backlash

Riot Games has walked back on its way to introduce ranked restrictions in Valorant following backlash from the community. With the latest patch 7.07 rolling out, the developer has removed the controversial change made in the last update, moreover fixed a myriad of bugs concerning surround sound, Premier mode, and Agents Cypher and Gekko. 

Riot previously introduced ranked restrictions in Valorant through patch 7.06, an update regarding the game’s high-level ranked queue. The studio attempted to tackle botting and boosting within the game by restricting the Ascendant rank players to only being able to match with Platinum players or higher. The change limited the players to team up with friends in case of rank difference leading to a huge backlash from the community.

In response, the studio has embraced the feedback and removed the restrictions saying they realize “how important it is to play with your friends.” The studio further confirms that they recognize the harms of illegitimate boosting to competitive integrity “and are working on an appropriate long-term solution that doesn’t impact your ability to play with friends in a 5 stack.”

Initially, the rank restriction was made to prevent people from illegitimately boosting to the highest ranks like Radiant. In the end, we realized that your ability to have flexibility with your 5 stack was more important than the very small number of people who abuse this exploit.”

Patch 7.07 brings a small map update, a visual change to Haven’s destructible doors located at Mid Garage “making it easier to see through as it falls away.” Regarding performance optimization, the game will now require a lower CPU core count to run. Riot has enabled multithread rendering for discrete Intel GPUs making Valorant better optimized on these systems.

For general bug fixes, Riot has updated the previously brought fix in patch 7.06 that dealt with the bug that “allowed the game to output surround sound when certain conditions were met, but the surround mix was untested and unsupported.” With patch Patch 7.07, Valorant currently only supports stereo and mono sound output leaving no place for the bug in the game.

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In agent updates, Cypher receives a much-needed buff to the long-known lackluster ultimate, Neutral Theft. Meanwhile, Gekko’s Dizzy will now have a reduced enemy detection range in a certain condition. Premier mode has also received numerous pivotal UI fixes.  

Valorant is a tactical first-person shooter that came out on June 2, 2020, on Windows after running a closed beta before release. The game has since been given numerous performance optimization updates. If you are a beginner, check out the detailed guide made on 15 Best Valorant Agents to excel at it. You can further get familiar with the best agents and weapons through the elaborate tier lists.