LoLAnti-cheatRiot made League of Legends replays private in Patch 26.20. Now, the changes are being delayed after the community spoke out.
League of Legends has delayed the private replay changes planned for Patch 26.20. Image Credits: Riot Games
After a major change that made replays private, the League of Legends community spoke out. Now, Riot Games is delaying the update to a future patch, developing a solution that better supports creators and esports figures.
Earlier this week, League of Legends made a major announcement. Riot Games fundamentally changed how replays work. The update originally went public with Patch 26.20 on October 6, 2026: replays would become private.
Before this decision, replays were public to all players. You could share them between groups, making it easier to review scrims and learn from pros. Now, however: “Starting with this patch, you will only be able to access replays from matches you played in. Other players will no longer be able to download your replays, and third-party apps & sites will lose access to replay downloads entirely.“
Riot stated the replay changes were mostly a security move. The company wants to close security holes that cheat developers and other bad actors recently used to build unauthorized tools around League game data.
The move was widely unpopular in the League of Legends community, especially because it affects esports. Coaches and analysts, content creators, and pros grouped together on social media to express their thoughts. Third-party websites and surrounding industry figures were also affected.
Influencers across the board spoke out. Necrit, LS, and Vandiril were just a few big names who commented. The change also landed right before the biggest event of the year, since Patch 26.20 is the version used for the 2026 World Championship. Worlds runs from October 15 to November 14 in the United States, and fans and analysts love to study the games. Private replays shape how that study works this year. There’s a renewed interest in esports overall, as the plays we see in the tournament will shape the upcoming season’s meta. Official broadcasts and VODs will matter more than ever.
Just a few hours after originally announcing the replay changes, the official League of Legends X.com posted an update. “The announced changes to replays are being delayed to Patch 26.21.”
The account continued: “We are working on a solution to ensure the creators and coaches out there that rely on replays are not meaningfully impacted by this change and want to have that in place before this goes live.”
It looks like replay sharing may be saved after all.
League Patch 26.21 will release on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. This means players still have about two weeks until the major replay sharing changes go into effect.
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