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Starting with Patch 26.20 on October 6, 2026, League of Legends players can access replays only for matches they participated in. Riot says you can still download and watch your own match replays in the League client, but other players can no longer download them and third-party apps and websites lose access to replay downloads. The change is likely to affect people who review other players’ games, including some coaches, analysts and creators, but the scale of that impact has not been measured.
What changed in Patch 26.20?
Riot’s Patch 26.20 notes introduce a “Private Replays” rule: replay access is limited to matches a player took part in. Other players cannot download that player’s replays, and third-party apps and sites lose access to replay downloads entirely. Riot says players can continue to download and watch their own matches in the League client.
This is an access rule, not simply a change to how long replay files are kept. Before the update, Riot’s March 27, 2026 Replay FAQ described replays as available through the current patch, with files becoming unavailable after the next patch. That older retention guidance does not override the Patch 26.20 participation restriction.
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Riot presents the replay change alongside restrictions on third-party access to League’s game memory. In its support explanation, Riot says game-memory access has been abused to create cheats, bot farms and tools that harm player experiences. The company’s stated goal is to protect game integrity by moving third-party access to game data onto official APIs.
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That is Riot’s rationale, not an independently measured estimate of how many players or tools are affected, or how much the restriction will reduce abuse. The policy does not establish that the broader League community is widely affected; it does establish that anyone seeking another player’s replay through the client or a third-party download service loses that route.
Who may lose access to useful match footage?
Players can still review their own games, but the participation rule changes what is available to people who need footage of matches they did not play. Coaches and analysts may be unable to inspect a player’s replay through the former download route, while creators who build content around other players’ games may lose access to the underlying replay file. Viewers seeking another player’s match face the same restriction.
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These are likely consequences of the rule, not measured impact figures. A discussion on Reddit includes concerns about watching other players’ VODs and making replay-based content, but it is anecdotal and does not show how common those concerns are: Reddit discussion.
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Your own match in the League client
Riot’s confirmed option is to download and watch replays of matches you played in through the League client. The older Replay FAQ describes downloading a .rofl file from match history, but its retention details predate the new access rule. Use the current client and Riot’s Patch 26.20 guidance for the present participation limit.
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Riot’s Replay API
Riot’s League developer documentation describes a Replay API for controlling a local replay session, including playback state, rendering, sequences and recording. It is a developer interface for a replay that is available locally; it is not a documented way to retrieve another player’s newly restricted replay.
Third-party apps and websites
Riot’s patch notes say third-party apps and sites lose access to replay downloads. Riot’s developer policies include approved uses such as self-player statistics and training tools for viewing one’s own match history and aggregate stats, while prohibiting products that provide game-session-specific information previously unknown to a player. The policy materials do not announce a replacement public API for downloading other players’ replays.
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OP.GG’s replay guide currently displays a notice that recording and playback are unavailable. The guide’s described workflow required the League client and OP.GG desktop app, recording to begin during the active game, and a compatible patch for playback. Its availability notice may change, but the guide does not provide a confirmed route around Riot’s Patch 26.20 restriction.
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Does the April 2027 deadline mean replay downloads continue?
No. Riot’s support article says it began preventing unknown third-party apps from accessing game memory by default on October 6, 2026. Known and currently approved tools have a grace period until April 2027 to transition affected features to official APIs, formally request new API data or discontinue unsupported features. That is a broader transition period for third-party tools; Riot’s Patch 26.20 notes separately say third-party apps and websites lose replay-download access with the patch. The grace period is not a promise that third-party replay downloads remain available.
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Is there a workaround for watching someone else’s replay?
The cited Riot documentation does not confirm a workaround or replacement service for accessing another player’s restricted replay. The Replay API controls an available local session; it does not restore access to the replay file. Nor do Riot’s materials say that a screen recorder or capture card can recover a replay a player cannot access in the first place.
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