I rarely have latency issues with my games, but recently I have been noticing pings over 100 and red Discord bars. I can't prove the exact cause, but the obvious hypothesis is that increased Internet usage due to COVID-19's stay-at-home order is having an effect. In today's Valorant blog update, Riot gives weight to that hypothesis.

According to Dave Heironymus, Valorant's technical director, there are currently two major latency-related problems: travel warnings are making it difficult for Riot to add new data centers, and the company is in the process of building a new data center, Internet service providers are dealing with increased traffic "by routing connections all over the place."

"This is something we are actively working on, but it continues to be a daily challenge, especially with traffic far exceeding expectations," he writes.

While it is not necessarily surprising that the massive shift in global Internet usage is affecting online gaming, it is good to see that it is not what we imagined. the New York Times on April 7 reported a 17% increase in Netflix usage, Twitch viewing was up 19.7%, and YouTube viewing was up 15.3%. To mitigate the increase in data usage, Netflix lowered streaming quality in Europe and YouTube began defaulting viewers to lower resolutions, but people flocked to video chat services like Zoom, spent more time watching TikTok videos on their phones and uploading 10x more selfies to Instagram, there is only so much they can do (this is a guess based on my own scrolling).

Returning to the topic of latency, particularly in Valorant, Heironymus also mentions the issue of matching players with nearby teammates and opponents to ensure that everyone has a good experience at their local data center. He believes this problem will be resolved as more players get into the game for launch, but added that Riot is "constantly evaluating" where to set up new servers. despite the travel difficulties associated with COVID-19, the developer is today in Korea, Brazil, and Latin America, and activated servers in those countries.

Today's full Valorant update, which includes comments by executive producer Anna Donlon on harassment and bullying, can be read on the official website.