VALORANT Patch 13.05 cracks down on stream snipers and instalock tools

Zloster Published September 4, 2026

VALORANT Patch 13.05 turned out to be very interesting because Riot Games took a unique approach. Instead of focusing only on the usual balance and map tweaks, the new update targets stream sniping and the use of third-party tools by players. The latter allows them to lock agents before anyone else has the chance.

Riot Games to target stream snipers and instalockers

Reading the update will show you that Riot Games actually started taking action against players who are using instalock tools and stream sniping. It became clear that offenders will receive a temporary ban at first.

However, if they continue with this behavior, Riot will issue a permanent ban and there won’t be any grace period or warnings.

The truth is that the instalock tool has been around for a long time. They allow a given person to choose a specific agent as soon as the screen loads. Although this may not seem problematic at first, it leaves some teammates with no say in what they want to play or do, which affects their VALORANT stats.

When it comes to streaming sniping, this issue affects only those who create content while playing ranked VALORANT matches. We do not know how the detection will actually work as Riot has not published any details. Considering the growing usage of AI, we would not be surprised if it’s been implemented one way or another.

What else is new in Patch 13.05

Outside of these two major announcements, the VALORANT Patch 13.05 will give people access to the Champions Shanghai Pick’Ems. Starting on September 10, people will be able to make their predictions and those who guess everything correctly will earn bonus points.

Additionally, the new patch changed the spray audio and fixed various bugs. For example, the annoying Cypher Trapwire bug, where the debuff remained all the time, is no longer active.

Stay tuned for more esports news leading up to VALORANT Champions.

Featured image credit: Riot Games