Riot responds after accidentally ruining one of VALORANT’s exclusive Champion skin finishers

One of VALORANT’s exclusive VCT Champions skins is seemingly bugged, leading to its enticing finisher changing shape in a not-so-good way.  

In a Reddit post on Dec. 3, a user named u/TheFlax posted two clips comparing the finisher animation of the VALORANT Champions 2022 Phantom as of Patch 7.10 versus what was originally launched, and the difference is apparent. The “new” finisher animation doesn’t have as many glamorous details as the original, and the black dome within which the VCT logo appeared is much smaller than before. Here’s what the changed animation looks like right now:

TheFlax thought the devs chose to update the animation intentionally, but according to Riot Games’ Preeti Khanolkar, lead producer for VALORANT’s cosmetic content, it turns out they didn’t. 

In a reply to the post, thanking TheFlax for the report, Khanolkar acknowledged that the present finisher of the VALORANT Champions 2022 Phantom “looks wrong.” “We’ll take a look,” she assured, confirming that it was indeed a bug and not intentional.

If we were to take a guess, the bug should have appeared recently—most possibly after Patch 7.10—due to an anomaly somewhere in the game’s code. That said, if you’re a proud owner of the time-limited Phantom skin, don’t worry; Riot is looking to fix it soon. 

Another player reported a possible bug with the Magepunk Sparkswitch butterfly knife in the same Reddit thread; the sound that plays upon right-clicking is apparently “too harsh.” Khanolkar said the devs have noted the same report from another source, but having failed to reproduce it, they are looking for more clues from the community to take action.

As a multiplayer shooter game, VALORANT certainly isn’t supposed to be free of issues, but it turns out its cosmetic skins aren’t immune to notorious bugs, either. Having spent 2,675 VP on a Phantom skin that was advertised as exclusive, it’s natural for players to question if one of the skin’s flagship features changes out of nowhere. I’d definitely be worried if I owned the VALORANT Champions 2022 Phantom right now, but thankfully for those who do, it’s just a bug.