In news that was a long time coming, Riot is finally taking action against a popular third-party Valorant app that gives players a significant advantage during character selection.
Almost all of Riot’s games have benefited from unofficial competition apps throughout the years. Usually, these apps provide users with enhanced stat tracking or live ranking insights. These apps are harmless and do nothing to offer a significant advantage for users.
However, a popular app for Valorant is Recon Bolt, created by Julian Dunskus. Unlike many other apps, this one allows players to lock in characters on their phones before the option is even available on PC.
Recon Bolt first went live in October 2022 and garnered almost instantaneous popularity, amassing over 338,000 downloads and boasting about 88,00 monthly users. However, just this week, Julian Dunskus announced via his Discord that the app would be shut down after a cease-and-desist notice from Riot.
“It’s hard to describe how disappointed I am that things have turned out this way, but Riot has shut down all attempts from my side to have a conversation about this and figure out a way forward together. Thank you so much for all your support throughout the app’s existence; it’s meant the world to me.”
goodbye recon bolt 💔 pic.twitter.com/YmkXRX25cw
— shah (@wafhuw) July 17, 2023
Riot has yet to comment publically on Recon Bolt. Still, according to Julian Dunskus, Riot has been attempting to have the app shut down for months already.
Julian Dunskus has defended his app on Twitter by arguing that Recon Bolt is no less fair than Valorant’s default method of selecting characters, where players with faster PCs or response time have an advantage over others.
What is your opinion on all this? Let us know in the comments.