Riot disables kill tracker skins after FPS drop issue

Fariha Bhatti Published 09/10/2021

Riot Games has disabled the new bugged bundle that brought the kill counter to Valorant.

Valorant has plenty of creative weapon skins but Riot Games hadn’t introduced something new in a long while. The RGX 11z Pro bundle changed that with its futuristic kill tracker feature. However, the developer has now disabled a variant due to in-game problems.

“As a stopgap, we’re disabling purchases of Level 5 and variants for the guns in this skin set. A full fix is still in the works,” Valorant said on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PlayVALORANT/status/1446315591350960130

Valorant players discover FPS drop with RGX skins

The new skin collection had a minimal theme and lacked the signature Valorant extravagance, but it hit the spot with its kill tracker. The translucent bundle showcased bullets running through the body with a sleek screen tracking kills each round. Players instantly jumped on buying the bundle, only to encounter a drastic frames drop upon equipping RGX weapons.

Many players reported an FPS drop soon after they equipped fully upgraded RGX skins. It seemed like a different issue, but professional players revealed that the new collection was the culprit. The 8,700 Valorant points worth skins were bugging the game, resulting in low performance.

Valorant producer for premium content Preeti Khanolkar quickly responded to the complaints, confirming that the skins were indeed bugged.

“We’re aware of this report. We’ve been looking into this since Wednesday night Pacific Time (a few hours after the skin went live in the store). Yes, we tested this for performance before it shipped, but we missed this. Sorry about that – I hope you trust that we’ll try to fix it,” Preeti said.

Soon after the post, Riot Games initiated an investigation and it seems to have found the cause.

The kill counter appears to be at the root of the problem. Weapons at level one seem to work just fine, but the highest level triggers an FPS drop in the game. RGX bundle has a total of five levels, the highest in the game, and it’s that level that’s messing with the performance. To tackle this issue, Riot Games has disabled level five for all weapons for the time being.

Players can still equip the RGX guns, but they won’t be able to activate the highest level until a fix has been delivered. Those who haven’t bought the skin shouldn’t hesitate from shopping as the issue is fixable and will be implemented soon.

The developer hasn’t revealed a timeline, but it should be quickly fixed, most likely days before the skins go out of the market rotation.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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