Riot Reverses League of Legends Replay Ban to a 10-Per-Hour Cap
Riot's security rationale could not survive the pro-scouting culture it would have ended, so the company settled on a rate limit instead of a wall.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Riot Games shipped League of Legends patch 26.21 on October 21. The patch caps replay downloads at 10 per hour, replacing an earlier plan that would have blocked other players' replays entirely. Riot had announced that block in the October 7 update and said at the time it was for security. Criticism from players and pro teams, who study other squads' replays, followed, and the change was postponed to this patch.
The cap arrives after Riot pulled back from a stronger version of the same idea. Before patch 26.21, replays could be downloaded without limit, including those of other players, so viewers could follow a high-ranked player's movement and item purchases.
Riot now frames the limit as a way to stop malicious actors from using apps made with vibe coding to pull thousands or tens of thousands of replays at once. The company says it will keep watching download conditions, and the number may change. Coaches and content creators got the accommodation Riot promised when the block was postponed.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.