Valorant players have discovered a game-breaking bug with one of the game's playable characters, Cypher. Thousands of people have been enjoying the Valorant beta since it launched earlier this month, but the problem with Cypher seems to be the biggest issue that players have found with the new multiplayer shooter.
On Twitter, former PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds pro sharky posted a video showing Cypher's Spycam ability turn into a lethal turret. The Cypher played had placed a Spycam on the map before support character Sage had dropped a handgun next to it. This allowed the Spycam to pick up the pistol where it could then be used to fire lethal rounds at enemy characters. Sharky asked if this gameplay was "intentional" but it does seem to be a bug and not a gameplay feature.
A video by YouTuber Firewall offered more information on how this game-breaking Valorant bug works. Using the game's training facility, Firewall showed how dropping a handgun near one of Cypher's Spycams makes the weapon disappear before being absorbed by the camera which then turns it into a lethal turret. The exploit doesn't work when using weapons that aren't handguns. The exploit also doesn't give players unlimited ammo in a normal Valorant match, it only looks like that in this YouTube video because it's turned on in the training ground.
It's unclear why this happens, but as one of Cypher's official abilities allows the Spycam to fire darts to tag enemies, it's possible that the game just gets confused between non-lethal darts and the lethal rounds of the pistol.
It hasn't been confirmed if using game-breaking exploits like this will get players banned. Riot Games has banned several Valorant cheaters from the game, just one week after testing began. The game also uses an anti-cheat system that has been called invasive by some players. However, this doesn't mean that using the game's technical issues will get players banned, but it will be thought of as unacceptable by other Valorant players.
Valorant is in beta, though Riot Games hasn't confirmed its release date, having only said that it will be available in summer 2020. This likely means that it plans to give out many more Valorant beta codes, giving players more time to find issues with the game.
Valorant is available in closed beta now on PC.