Riot Dev's Chance Encounter With Valorant Pro Player Led To Fixing Bugged "Pay-To-Lose" Gun

Riot Games Associate Producer Robin Silk encountered Valorant pro player Mistic during the Valorant Champions Tour event in Istanbul, revealing the pro community regarded the Spectrum Phantom as a "pay-to-lose" bugged-out gun. It was common knowledge to prestige players, yet no one at Riot had a clue, leading Silk to return to the LA office and get the fix implemented in yesterday's big update.

Why does this matter? Well, in the eyes of the pro community, the slight variance of the gun's barrel - since it's an altered Phantom rifle - pokes out a bit further than other versions. The extra bit of the gun's nose would compromise players faster when peeking around corners where enemies lay waiting. From their viewpoint, any noticeable details that give the opposing team an edge are precious, so it became "pay-to-lose" despite its capabilities.

In these notes we mention a fix for the spectrum phantom silencer length, and I wanted to share a quick story about this. At VCT champions in Istanbul I met @misticJK, and while talking about skins he casually mentioned he doesnt use spectrum phantom because its pay to lose (1/5) https://t.co/EkAndE290S

— Silky (@UnderscoreSilky) October 18, 2022

Silk had "no idea what [Mistic] was talking about" in Istanbul, to which the pro player asked other professionals nearby who confirmed the gun's less-than-appealing status. The Riot dev was surprised, which he notes in a Twitter post: "So there is like, this cabal of pros that knows about this bug, so NO ONE is using the phantom in pro play." Silk stated he encourages "all VALORANT players to escalate any bugs they come across to the right channels...we really do take these reports seriously."

The Spectrum Phantom has less barrel length now to match "the base Phantom weapon model," announced Riot in yesterday's patch notes. Adding, they are "ready for pros to start using it again."