Valorant is finally adding replays and upgrading to Unreal Engine 5
After initially developing and updating the game in Unreal Engine 4 for more than ten years, the dev team announced a port to Unreal Engine 5 with patch 11.02 around the end of July. The Valorant devs say this will bring higher frame rates and faster future patch downloads without changing the current gameplay feel. In their video update , the team teased that moving to Unreal 5 will enable a whole host of possibilities in the future.
Competitive players will take particular note of new anti-smurfing initiatives. Smurfing is the practice of higher-ranked players using lower-ranked accounts to gain a competitive advantage by playing against players far below their skill level. In an attempt to further curb this behavior, Valorant will be asking suspicious accounts to complete multi-factor authentication and is exploring requiring it on all competitive accounts. These guardrails will launch later this year with more details to come. Additionally, users who wish to report other players for smurfing can now select a specific "Rank/Matchmaking Abuse" category to help the better identify those accounts.
The update also showcased some gameplay balancing measures involving character abilities, teased a new competitive map and highlighted the team's vision for the future of Valorant in esports.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
14 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Amazon's Choice Mini PC (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) Just Got Restocked at a Near-Clearance Price
Your desk at home is a finite space. You shouldn't have to take up dang near the whole thing for your computer. It's possible to save some of that surface area by downsizing to a small PC without sacrificing too much power. This GMKtec mini PC is exactly that—perfect for school, business, or just personal use. And best of all, the mini PC is currently on sale over at Amazon. Typically priced at $250, right now you can nab one for just $188. That's a 25% discount equating to a savings of $62. See at Amazon This nearly pocket-sized desktop PC from GMKtec is super tiny. It comes in at a measurement of just 4.48 inches by 4.17 inches by 1.67 inches. It's a small form factor that doesn't do away with the important specs that allow for high performance. That makes it easy to transport with you anyway, just slipping it into a pocket or small compartment on your backpack. When setting up at you desk, it can even be mounted to the back of a monitor to avoid taking up any desk space at all. The GMKtec G3 Plus mini PC is powered by the 2025 Intel Twin Lake N150 four-core, four-thread processor. It's capable of 6MB cache and burst speeds of up to 3.6GHz. Included is 16GB of RAM allowing you to keep multiple applications or browser tabs open at once along with a large storage capacity with its 1TB SSD. It's possible to expand further with up to 2TB if your desire even more storage space. Along the backside, we have two HDMI 2.0 ports, each capable of displaying in 4K resolutions at up to 60Hz. That means you can have a dual display, connecting to two separate monitors at once. In addition to the HDMI ports, the GMKtec G3 Plus mini PC has four USB 3.2 ports (two on the front, tow on the back, a 3.5mm AUX port for headphones or speakers, and a Giga LAN RJ45 port for direct internet access. Over the RJ45 connection, you can expect 2.5G internet. It also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 for added connectivity options. Use the USB ports to connect additional accessories like a keyboard, mouse, printer, and more. Upgrading doesn't always mean upsizing too. Get this ultra-small mini PC for 25% off for a limited time. The GMKtec G3 Plus mini PC is down from its original price of $250 to just $188—saving you a total of $62. See at Amazon
The Verge
14 hours ago
- The Verge
Valorant moves to Unreal Engine 5 today.
Posted Jul 29, 2025 at 1:00 PM UTC Valorant moves to Unreal Engine 5 today. And Riot Games is hoping you won't even notice, apart from the big download. Today's update moves Valorant from Unreal Engine 4.27 to Unreal Engine 5.3, and there might even be some small performance improvements on some systems. While other PC games using Unreal 5 have run into stutter issues, Riot says its switch shouldn't even be noticeable for most players. Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Tom Warren Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Tom Warren Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Gaming Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All PC Gaming
Tom's Guide
19 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
Going back to school? Here are 5 TVs I wish I had for my dorm room
If you're heading back to school and are looking for a TV for your dorm room or apartment bedroom, I think I've found the best possible sets that meet most needs. Beggars can't be choosers, after all. You don't need the top-of-the-line OLED for back to school, as (honestly) you should be focusing on studying and schoolwork as opposed to getting the best possible picture performance for movies and shows. That's where some of the cheapest TVs come into play. Most of these displays aren't necessarily bottom-of-the-barrel, but they do come cheap and yet still will net you quality performance. I've also listed a few 2024 sets, which will save you some extra dollars while still lasting over four years. Check out the full list below so you can deck out your dorm room and make it the chill spot for every movie night. The Panasonic W95A makes one of the best cases for a budget dorm room TV. It's marked as one of the cheapest Mini-LED TVs on the market right now and though it arrived in 2024, it has some serious picture performance. In my review of the Panasonic W95A Mini-LED TV, I raved about its viewing angles and anti-glare mitigation. These are crucial for back-to-school goers, who often don't have a ton of space in their room and will watch TV from an angle. At just under $500, the W95A is hard to beat. It might not be the most feature-rich set, but it definitely ticks most of the boxes you'd want for general entertainment without diminishing on picture quality. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Released in 2024, the new Panasonic W95A is a real looker. It leverages a 144Hz refresh rate on a design that features two HDMI 2.1 ports and AMD FreeSync compatibility. It also comes equipped with the range of HDR certifications and it even has an ATSC 3.0 tuner so you're NextGenTV ready. 65" @ $597 I know what you're thinking; "A gaming TV for my dorm room?" You're allowed to have some leisure time, and the TCL QM6K would be my pick to pair up with a PS5 or PC in my dorm. I might have graduated college nearly nine years ago, but I know just how important those late-night gaming sessions are. You're going to want a TV that's a one-two punch in terms of gaming features and price, which the QM6K nails at just under $500. In our review, we raved about just how many features are packed into the TCL QM6K Mini-LED TV. Although it might have a poor speaker and doesn't have the best glare mitigation, its 144Hz refresh rate and picture quality makes up for this. It can also hit 288Hz in 1080p, which no other TVs have on offer, making it perfect for the burgeoning PC gamers still in school right now. The QM6K represents one of the most affordable ways to land a Mini-LED TV at the 65-inch size point. Google TV is available right out of the box, and the TV's relatively modest Mini-LED backlight keeps scenes visually appealing.65" @ $64775" @ $84985" @ $1,297 Although it sits at the bottom of Hisense's 2025 TV lineup, the U6QF is still a remarkable display with tons of value. We don't have a full review of this Mini-LED TV just yet, but it already seems like a tempting budget model built on the back of Hisense's brilliant brightness know-how. Unlike the rest of its lineup, the Hisense U6QF Mini-LED TV is the only set to feature Fire TV over Google TV. That means you'll have access to cloud gaming services, like Amazon Luna and Xbox Game Pass, which is nice if you're needing a break from the cramming for finals. It is a bit larger in terms of its chassis, which is par for the course when it comes to most Mini-LED TVs. If you have limited space in your dorm room, you might need to find a smaller screen — even in the face of its sub-$600 sticker price. This is the lowest price ever offered for the Hisense 55" Class U6 Series Mini-LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV. It's a newer TV (a 2025 model, in fact), which means you'll have all the most current technology and features. Between the Native 144Hz, HDR10+ support, Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Atmos, and Amazon's stellar Fire TV OS, you have everything you need for a great entertainment experience.65" @ $64975" @ $900 I couldn't imagine having an OLED TV in my college dorm room, but the best possible way you could get one is with the Sansui OLED TV. I reviewed this budget OLED last year and while it didn't match the same performance against other OLEDs, its appealing price is hard to ignore. The Sansui OLED did stand out with some good color performance, which we measured at 129% of the Rec709 gamut. And it did have some higher brightness metrics for an OLED, measured at 480 nits in standard content and 724 nits in HDR with Brightness Booster enabled. A big letdown for me was its slower interface, but this can be amended with one of the best streaming devices, like the Roku Ultra. Still, if you want those perfect contrasts and wide viewing angles at a perfect price, the Sansui OLED isn't a bad pick at just $800. The Sansui 55-inch OLED TV is your budget ticket to crystalline blacks and gorgeous contrasts. OLED TVs serve as the best ways to game and with the PS5 Pro available (sporting a high premium at that) you can save a bit on an OLED display with this 55-inch beaut that comes with two HDMI 2.1 ports on a 120Hz panel. A 40W speaker system also gives you some serious oomph in entertainment. What more could you ask for? As the top dog among best OLED TVs last year, the LG C4 OLED is a perfect TV for your dorm room. It's got tons of specs and is built on the widest selection of sizes, all of which are set at competitive prices — made all the better now that it's a year old. Don't let its age fool you, though. It's built with some of the best features, like a 144Hz refresh rate and four HDMI 2.1 ports. In our testing, it also had some exceptional color accuracy and coverage. Delta-E measures color accuracy, with lower scores being better, the C4 posted a Delta-E of 1.8. The screen also covers 98.9% of the Rec709 gamut. Movie nights and even all-night gaming sessions will be unbeatable on the LG C4. You could even use it as a PC monitor — last year, in fact, I replaced my PC monitor with the LG C4. While it might be overkill, it's totally worth it. The C4 is LG's flagship OLED TV. It's powered by LG's A9 processor and features a 120Hz panel, Dolby Vision/ HDR10/HLG support, built-in Amazon Alexa, four HDMI 2.1 ports and Apple AirPlay 2 support. It's also one of the few OLED TVs that can natively accept a 144Hz input from a PC. In our LG C4 OLED TV review, we said the content looked colorful and dazzlingly bright on the new C4 series.48" for $99955" for $1,199 65" for $1,39983" for $3,299
