Riot announces Valorant player comms will be recorded when reports are submitted

Riot Games has announced that it will begin recording player voice comms once a report for disruptive behavior is submitted.

On April 30, the company announced in a blog post that its Privacy and Terms of Service had been updated with the goal to take aim at abusive behavior.

According to Riot, the team is committed to taking action against players who use voice comms to harass others and as such, they will “need the ability” to analyze voice data.

The policy changes essentially mean that the Valorant devs will be allowed to record and review comms when a report is submitted.

“If a violation is detected, we’ll take action and remove the data when it is no longer needed for reviews,” Riot stated.

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Furthermore, Riot has claimed that while it has been providing players with ways to report misconduct in its games, they will need more evidence in order to verify that violations of behavioral policies were made. This is why being able to record is imperative.

Of course, recording comms is not going to come without some backlash, which is something the Valorant devs seemed prepared for with its FAQ.

“When we collect data, we’ll be transparent, we’ll keep it for only as long as is necessary, and we’ll protect it as if it were our own,” they said.

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Additionally, Riot has made it clear that they won’t be “actively monitor[ing] your live game comms” and that they’ll only review and listen when a report has been filed.

It also seems like players can’t just opt out of this, as Riot says that players not wanting their voice chat to potentially be recorded just shouldn’t be in chat to begin with.

“Participating in voice on our platform means your voice logs are subject to recording and potential processing,” they explained.

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The devs also noted that more information will be coming soon before voice data is collected and players will be made aware in-client once data collection begins.