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Valorant has become as popular as it is in such a short span thanks to its various features and unique gameplay.
The game has also included several features for live streaming. One prominent feature is the streamer mode, which essentially hides the player’s in-game name, replacing it with the name of the Agent selected.
Other than streaming, it is also useful for privacy and security purposes. There is also an option to replace the names of all players with a generic Agent name.
A streamer’s in-game name could be used to track them down and stream snipe. Sometimes, people find opportunities to harass others by following their Valorant IDs.
Recently, a bug was discovered, which bypasses the streamer mode privacy settings. If a friend request were sent to players using hidden names, their names would be revealed via a chat notification.
Major exploit discovered in Valorant streamer mode
The streamer mode in Valorant can be turned on from the privacy section in the general settings. Toggling on the option would make the player’s name invisible to teammates as well as opponents.
There is also a second option to turn teammates’ and opponents’ names into generic Agents’ names. These were included to prevent stream sniping, as well as for privacy factors.
However, a recently discovered bug can bypass this security layer. It gets triggered by sending a friend request from the pause menu to the person with a hidden in-game name. The system immediately sends a notification to the sender’s inbox, revealing the person’s real in-game name.
The Valorant player base is understandably upset over this recent discovery. However, Riot Games software engineer Lydia Litvyak (@SNazerine, u/girlsimulation) has already responded to related queries.
She clarified that the fix for the bug is already available internally. Unfortunately, they couldn’t deploy it with the holiday update. Nevertheless, it would be included in the first patch for the new year.
She also suggested a workaround solution for the bug in the meanwhile. The pending friends’ request is capped at 50. If that limit is reached, a new friend request will simply fail silently.
“If you’re a streamer who’s having problems with people friend requesting you in-game to stream snipe, get 50 of your friends/viewers to friend request you and just leave the requests sitting there.”
The bug can be exploited to stream snipe during a Valorant match. However, the software engineer has assured the community that it would be fixed with the next patch.
