Fariha Bhatti 
Riot Games is shipping a highly requested feature to permanently block toxic players in Valorant, according to leaks.
Over the years, Riot Games has made strides in combatting toxicity in the game with progressive features and encouraging players to report the trolls. Recently, the developer promised hardware bans for repeat offenders, which is rare in the shooter genre. Unfortunately, persistent trolls always return, but it seems the developer has also found a way to combat this issue.
According to leaker valohabercisi on X, Valorant a blacklist feature may be arriving in the game. This discovery came as Valorant patch 9.03’s release loomed. If the feature ships, it would let players create a list of those they don’t want to communicate with in the game.
How to block players in Valorant
Players will be able to block people in Valorant using a blacklist feature.
The blacklist feature may function similarly to the mute button, automatically silencing a troll’s audio entirely by simply selecting “block” from the scoreboard. There’s currently no way to block a player in Valorant permanently, but players will soon be able to create a blacklist of trolls.
It’s worth noting that the blacklist feature is not the same as the “avoid” feature seen in games like Dota 2 or Overwatch.
Valorant’s block feature will simply prevent blocked players from sending friend requests or party invites. Moreover, the blacklist players will get automatically muted if they are added to the same game session. This way, toxic players won’t have the opportunity to say something toxic. While it doesn’t address the frustrating issue of throwers impacting dragging down Rank Ratings, it is still a step in the right direction.
Valorant blacklist feature release date
The Valorant blacklist feature does not have a release date. It may arrive soon since it has likely been in development for over two years.
A Valorant developer discussed the idea in 2021 while explaining why Valorant won’t have an “avoid” feature. According to the developer, the avoid feature often gets used against skilled players, causing them to be on a mass ignore list just because they are better at the game. For this reason, the developer had been focusing on something similar to a permanent mute or this leaked blacklist feature in Valorant.
While this was valid in 2021, Valorant has broadly been labeled as the most toxic gaming community there is. This hasn’t impacted its popularity, but few players would say that they’re satisfied with the interpersonal experience of the game.
