Valorant matches taking too long to find, Riot fixes queue time

Fariha Bhatti Published 15/12/2021

Valorant queue time has been unbelievably long for many players. Riot Games has finally found a way to cut the wait time by half after players’ demand.

Players have long been complaining about the sudden hike in Valorant smurfs, prompting Riot to take intense action. The developer found a middle ground, which came with a downside of prolonged wait time in Valorant rank queues. However, Riot Games has now rectified the situation, reducing queue times by nearly half.

https://twitter.com/PlayVALORANT/status/1470901981237506048

Riot Games fixes Valorant queue time after community demand

Valorant has a severe smurfing problem, which mostly has to do with Riot’s strict rank restriction. While some players smurfed in Valorant for malicious purposes, others created new accounts to enjoy the ranked experience with their low-ranked friends. This resulted in an abundance of new accounts handled by highly skilled players.

Valorant patch notes 3.10 rolled in with a much-needed fix for the smurf problem that forced high-ranked players back into their leagues. In order to enter lower ranks, high ELO players must be willing to sacrifice 50% or so of their rank rating (RR) points. On top of that, the queue time for five-stacks became insanely high, which received negative feedback from the dedicated player base.

Why does it take so long to find a match in Valorant?

The new patch 3.10 update allowed all ranks to play together in five stacks. This positive change came with a catch. Full-stack lobbies with high-rank disparity must wait for eons to match with similar ELO players, resulting in long Valorant queues.

Sometimes, the queues would take over an hour to find a Diamond 3+ five stacks match. While it certainly made high ELO players rethink matching with low-ranked friends, it also negatively impacted those trying to grind ranked. Riot Games has heard the woes. After this fix, players should be able to observe a change in their queue wait time.

This new change should allow players in all ranks to queue together more conveniently. It’s worth noting that the wait time would still be extended depending on what ranks are in a lobby together. The higher the rank disparity, the longer the queue time would be. So, try to five-stack with ranks that are not way too outside of Valorant’s original rank restriction scale.

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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