Valorant UE5 Update sees both positive and negative reactions

The Valorant UE5 update arrived with patch 11.02. The game was upgraded to Unreal Engine 5 to enhance overall performance; however, this may cause visual issues for some users. This is particularly applicable to lower-end setups. Consequently, players online have been debating whether the upgrade was necessary.

The Valorant Reddit community was abuzz and split in two when one post from user u/Symysteryy on July 30, 2025, described performance problems:

"Unreal Engine 5 Has a Noticeable Performance Decrease"

The user reported up to 100 FPS drops after the Valorant UE5 update. While some members agreed and reported similar issues, others had the opposite experience.

Redditor u/OrangeLFG reported that their game became downright unplayable after patch 11.02 was released. The player had a low-end gaming laptop setup that may not have been able to support the upgrade:

"I'm on a weaker laptop, but mine became basically unplayable."

Another player, u/Accomplished_Cry8120, had multiple issues to speak of. The user complained about constant stuttering and even crashes, which they had never seen before:

"i cant even play without the game stuttering every 30secs. and since its ue5 the process priority is on high by default"

On the other hand, u/QueVigil999 reported gaining more FPS after updating Valorant to the current patch. The player could now get higher performance and did not report any stuttering:

"Mine went from 500/600 to around 750/900. 4060, 5700x3d, 32 gigs RAM. Don't know how."

Redditor u/ImConnor-04 didn't say much in their comment. They just contrasted the experience of the OP (original post) with their own by noting the better performance they have received in-game:

"Unreal aengine 5 Has a Noticeable Performance Increase for me."

Finally, like many others, u/Vanirr69 shared how they got more frames per second after Valorant shifted to Unreal Engine 5. The game has changed significantly in terms of its visuals, and for some, this may be a very vivid experience.

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Valorant UE5 update brings significant changes

Riot Games skipped their patch 11.01 and went directly to patch 11.02. This completes the very hyper Valorant UE5 update. The update was released on July 29/30, 2025, based on your region, and quickly became the central focus of the community for days.

Even the VCT Stage 2 tournaments are being played on this update with all its changes. Speaking of patch updates, multiple Agents, such as Astra, Killjoy, and Cypher, received bug fixes. Perhaps the more interesting Agent change was the one that was never mentioned in the patch notes.

With the Valorant UE5 update came the Chamber shadow buff. Chamber's Trademark will now remain active no matter how far the Agent travels away from it. This global trip now makes his grip on the game stronger and allows him more map control.

Edited by Adarsh J Kumar