Starting with Patch 26.20 on October 6, 2026, League of Legends replays are available only to players who participated in the match. Riot says players can still download and watch their own replays in the League client, but other players and third-party apps or websites can no longer download them.
What changed in Patch 26.20?
Riot’s Patch 26.20 notes introduce the restriction under “Private Replays.” Access now depends on whether you played in the match: you can review your own games, but cannot download another player’s replay. Riot also says third-party apps and sites lose access to replay downloads entirely.
The rule took effect with Patch 26.20, dated October 6, 2026. This is a change to who can access a replay, not an announcement that all post-game review has ended.
What can players still review?
Your own matches
Riot says you can download and watch replays of matches you played in through the League client. The available official option is therefore in-client review of your own games.
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Another player’s match
If you did not participate, Riot’s new rule blocks you from downloading that replay. This affects people who used other players’ match footage for coaching, analysis, viewing, or creator content. The available sources establish the access restriction, but do not measure how many people are affected or how severe the impact is for each group.
Why is Riot restricting replay access?
Riot connects the replay change to broader limits on third-party access to League’s game memory. In its support article about third-party apps and game-memory access, Riot says memory access has been abused to create cheats, bot farms, and tools that harm player experiences. Riot presents the restrictions as a security measure intended to protect game integrity and says official APIs should be the permitted way for third parties to retrieve game data. These are Riot’s stated reasons; the cited materials do not quantify the abuse or measure the policy’s effect.
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Riot says it began preventing unknown third-party apps from accessing game memory by default on October 6, 2026. Existing known and currently approved tools have a grace period until April 2027 to transition affected features to official APIs, formally request data, or discontinue unsupported features. That broader transition period is not an extension of third-party replay downloads: Riot’s Patch 26.20 notes say those downloads are lost with the patch.
Does Riot’s Replay API restore access to other players’ games?
No such replacement access is described in Riot’s documentation. The Replay API documentation describes controls for a local replay session, including playback state, rendering, sequences, and recording. It concerns operating a replay that is available; it does not document a way to retrieve a replay restricted by the new participation rule.
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Riot’s developer policies list permitted uses such as self-player statistics and training tools for viewing one’s own match history and aggregate stats. They also prohibit products from providing game-session-specific information previously unknown to a player. The cited policies do not announce a public API that replaces downloads of other players’ replays.
What about OP.GG or older replay instructions?
OP.GG’s replay guide currently displays a notice that recording and playback are unavailable. Its described workflow required the League client and OP.GG desktop app, recording to begin during the active game, and a compatible patch for playback. That notice is specific to OP.GG and may change; it does not establish an alternative for downloading another player’s replay.
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Riot’s replay FAQ, dated March 27, 2026, describes the older system: replays were available for the duration of a patch, became unavailable after the next patch, and could be opened as downloadable .rofl files from match history. That information is historical context, not an exception to Patch 26.20’s newer access rule.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is there a workaround?
The cited Riot materials do not confirm a workaround or third-party substitute for accessing another player’s restricted replay. The Replay API controls local playback, and the April 2027 deadline applies to approved tools’ broader game-memory transition—not to replay downloads. A screen recorder or capture card also cannot retrieve a replay you are unable to access in the first place.
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