Riot Games lets its voice be heard when it comes to VALORANT’s 2025 ‘Run It Back’ bundle and the community’s response can be termed as, well, ecstatic on one hand and indifferent on the other. The (exclusive) visuals of the EXO, Kuronami, and Nocturnum skins which are promised to be delivered are already circulating, December 18 is the day when the bundle is going to be sold in virtual stores, and a lavish reception is anticipated in the official tweet where Riot has already received complaints, issues, and loads of people proposing, they first fix the game, and then talk.
What is the problem, to be precise? The 2025 Run It Back Bundle is a strictly limited pack of revived skins with no cutting off the skins. If players have missed the chance to buy such skins earlier, this is their time. But the catch that made people so angry is that you can only buy the complete bundle to get the skins; no individual purchases are allowed. The whole-you-take-all method has become a contentious issue where instead of enjoying reminiscing, players are now stuck into a huge drama concerning their relations with the publishers Riots.
It is quite easy to perceive a lot of gamer frustrations through their replies to this announcement. One player, @maowastakentoo, didn’t think twice and sarcastically remarked: ‘such a scam, can only buy the whole bundle.’ This view appears to be shared. @amjad_roha69313 was able to identify with him and he stated: ‘That ain’t fair, I want to buy a separate skin,’ while @zakivlr brought up the very same concern: ‘Why do I have to get the whole bundle to get them, why can’t I buy each skin individually, like come on?’ One point! What if you are only interested in the Kuronami Vandal but already own it? Tough luck, says Riot. You are paying for one and receiving another anyway.
And the complaints about the bundle structure have taken a whole different turn! They have swiftly moved on from the specific issue of VALORANT to a broader aspect of gaming. It is as if the announcement of the arrangement of skins and gun skins for sale has created a space for “every hung up issue”. @Royal0n countered, ‘Maybe you should return the option of PLAYING THE GAME, I have 2 days trying to fix the game that is stuck in the loading screen.’ @JellyDJ1234567 was even more straightforward when he said: ‘Anything but fixing the game but thanks for a new fucking bundle riot.’ Oof! That is indeed a big letdown. It points to the age-old debate in live-service games: players seeing new monetization while dealing with persistent bugs or performance issues.
Next up for discussion has been the bundle content. Some players are feeling very let down by the choice. @stpnwooolf talked about it as a ‘very usual loss’ because the ‘no melee’ weapon is not included among the other three weapons. Others like @ImSoApathetic and @Impartial_Yve have been debating on the thread about the sizes of the bundles, as they were pointing out that previous ‘Run It Back’ bundles had more skins like four or five so this makes-up three-skin offering feel a bit light for the probable price. And @thenamewhoswho just merely asked, ‘bad, where kuronami skins rerun or v2 with discount??’ indicating that even the first choice of returning skins is not hitting the mark for everybody.
Did I mention anything? Oh yes, the tremendous anger is more than a little impressive. It’s not just the finances that are at stake but also the perceived value and player choice. @SoulErnesto criticized Riot saying ‘always showing the greedy side’ while @MarkoParaDr pointedly called the forced bundle purchase ‘Actually so funny’. Obviously, by such a call, the intent is to express how outrageous the situation is. Additionally, the community members who get to request specific shop items got mixed up, with @ValtermcPires begging for the Kuronami Sheriff to show up in his daily shop, apart from this whole bundle mess.
So what should we learn from this? The irony is that Riot’s ‘Run It Back’ bundle is now facing a wall of player discontent. The combination of the decision to lock the desired cosmetics behind a compulsory full-bundle purchase and the players’ complaints regarding the game’s existing problems has led to a perfect storm of negative feedback. Although the company generally keeps a close watch on its community, this time it feels like a miscalculation. Gamers want flexibility. They want to support the game but they also want to feel that their purchases are respected. It is a practice to sell individual bundles while setting up a full bundle sale; this would be a formula for success on platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.
