Riot Games has finally broken the silence on one of the biggest worries surrounding VALORANT’s upcoming move to Unreal Engine 5. As the launch of patch 11.02 on July 29 draws near, many players have expressed concern that this upgrade might negatively impact frame rates and overall performance.

However, Riot has reassured the community that the transition will be seamless. Marcus Reid, the Technical Lead for VALORANT, addressed fans directly on X (formerly Twitter), saying players "won’t even notice" the difference. In fact, he revealed that VALORANT may run even faster under UE5 than it currently does.

Reid emphasized that the development team has worked hard to preserve the core feel of the game. “We believe deeply in building the best possible player experience,” he said. “That’s why when we moved to UE5, we made sure the game looks, feels, and plays the same. Same lineups, same gunplay, and same great performance.”

The upcoming patch will include a significantly larger download file than previous updates. While this might be slightly inconvenient for some players, Riot has promised that the game’s overall file size will actually shrink to nearly half its current size after installation — a welcome change for players managing storage space.

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To prepare for the switch, Nvidia has already released a dedicated driver update that optimizes system performance for the new engine. According to Nvidia’s official description, this driver not only ensures UE5 readiness but also maintains compatibility with Nvidia Reflex, which helps reduce input latency for a smoother competitive experience.

Riot Games confirmed that servers will go into temporary maintenance during the update rollout. Since VALORANT operates across various regions, patch release times will vary depending on your location.

This Unreal Engine 5 update marks a milestone for the game, coinciding with VALORANT’s fifth anniversary. Alongside the engine upgrade, Riot teased the arrival of a Replay System, scheduled for patch 11.06 in September 2025, which will allow players to rewatch and analyze their past matches — a long-requested feature.

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