Everything Unanswered

I use a third-party tool that reads publicly available Valorant lobby data via API - skins, buddies, full loadout - before the game even loads. The same kind of data tracker.gg uses but more. Nothing private. Nothing on your account. Just what you have equipped in that moment.

No. The data comes from Valorant's own API - nothing goes through Vanguard, nothing touches internal files. Riot is aware of the project and approved it. If this were cheating the project would not exist publicly with a Riot support ticket attached to it.

Magicians don't explain the trick after they're done - that's what makes it work. But I don't want to leave anyone thinking something happened to their account. That is why this page exists.

No. When trolling - nothing is logged about you. I don't care what skins you have beyond your reaction in that moment. You are not in any database. I moved on as soon as the game ended.

When the database hits 1000 owners. Anyone who gets an RGB after the video drops can still submit their story - every entry moves that goal closer. Future collabs on Part 2 are open to any creator who wants to cover it at that point.

Yes. Riot Support was contacted before publishing anything. The response confirmed that talking about the project and the findings is fine. Unlike the tools used to find owners - that was the one condition, and it stays that way. Ticket 123260509 if anyone from Riot wants to verify.

Through Geunix - a mutual creator known for piano trickshot videos made for MrLowlander's channel. I met him in a game, managed to add him in Discord and he brought the idea forward. MrLowlander agreed same day. 2.5 years of data and 360 real stories is hard to turn down.

Your entry goes into the database. If the method you describe is something I want to follow up on, I may reach out via Discord. Usually for clarification.

That makes it more valuable, not less. The unusual entries are exactly what I want. If something doesn't fit a category, write it under "Other" - I will read it properly and probably follow up.

Yes. There are entries in the database where owners have it on two weapons - Vandal and Phantom being the most common combo. Rare but documented. If you have it on multiple guns please mention that in the form.

Yes. Your in-game name is stored only to prevent duplicate entries - it never appears in any published findings. Everything in the research output is aggregated. Nothing identifiable ever gets shared.

There are accounts in the data of this happening - usually following serious behavioural issues. Nothing officially confirmed by Riot, but the pattern exists. Being the kind of player who earned it in the first place is probably the best insurance.

Hi, I'm Mud - also known as RGBDataCollector in Valorant. Previously Community and Social Media Manager at SteelSeries and 3D Aim Trainer. This project started at 19 - not a studio, not a team. One person, a spreadsheet, and a lot of games played.

Some of the 430+ people who were approached in real lobbies didn't answer or opted out. The methodology is consistent - same two questions, every conversation, over years. That is not something you fake at scale.

There were complications. A personal TikTok got caught in a Riot ban wave targeting cheat-selling content - one video mistaken for cheat promotion. The project went underground for about two months. After confirming it was a wave and not a targeted action, the work continued. Riot Support has since confirmed the research is fine to publish.

Nothing, if you just want to read. If you have an RGB the form is there. If you want to follow what comes next the socials are there. Treat this like a Wikipedia article that actually has primary sources.

In 2023 Keeoh posted a video saying there was nothing left to cover in Valorant. I didn't feel like this was truthful. The Riot Gun Buddy had zero real data - only recycled community guesses and myths. The access and the persistence to go get actual answers were there. So the project started. Three conversations became over 450 and here we are.

No. That is not the goal of this project either. You cannot control if a developer is in your lobby. What the data shows is what separates people who got one from people who didn't - and that part is in your control.

Being positive. Communicating. Making the lobby feel worth playing in. Not performing it for the chance of getting noticed - just actually being that way. That pattern shows up consistently across over 360+ entries in the database.

Swiftplay comes out on top at 37% of in-game encounters in the data. Not ranked. Not competitive. The mode where people play loosely. Whether that means Rioters prefer it or it's just where the most games happen - the data doesn't say why, only what.

Based on the data - no. It's about how you show up in the moment a developer is watching. A few toxic players still received one. That said it's not a reliable path. The consistent pattern is kindness not behaviour history.

Yes. Link the website, credit the project and my name - Mud aka RGB Data Collector - and you can reference everything freely. The data is public. All I care about is that rgbproject.xyz stays the central reference point for anything RGB related.

Refer to the website and my name. Mud aka RGB Data Collector. That's it. The rest is public information.

Yes. Discord is the fastest way to reach me and I'm open to it. If you want to collab on a future video - especially anything related to Part 2 when the database hits 1000 - message me directly.

A gun buddy that cannot be bought, earned through the battle pass, or unlocked by any in-game system. Riot Games developers gift it personally to players they encounter in live matches - on their terms, with no announcement and no explanation owed to anyone. That is the whole mystery. Nobody outside Riot has ever officially explained how it works.

Every other item has a price. A store rotation. A battle pass tier. An event unlock. This one has none of those. There is no path to it. You either get chosen or you don't.

No. It cannot be traded, gifted through the store, or obtained through any transaction. If someone claims to be selling one it is a scam. There is no mechanism in the game that allows it.

Yes. Ticket 123260509. The research was reviewed and confirmed as acceptable to publish. The specific tool used to identify RGB owners stays unnamed per that conversation - and it does, always.

An interview. That's it. I reached out to Riot's media team - no response. An insider contact told me some people internally were a little annoyed the project existed without prior notice. Which I understand. But if any Rioter - developer, writer, community team, anyone who has power to give the RGBs and is down to sit down and talk about the buddy from their side - that conversation goes straight into Part 2. My Discord is open. That would change the next video significantly.

No. The tool is never named - not on this site, not in the video, not in the comments. That was the condition from the support conversation and it is respected fully.

Funny you ask. I've thought about this. If we're negotiating - ideally 20 Riot Gun Buddies, one for each gun, since I am the Riot Gun Buddy Data Collector after all :DD. But realistically the thing I'd actually want more are the two buddies that have never been released to anyone - Lightning Kicks and Justice Served. Both sitting in the game files, completely unobtainable. If I could get either of those, I'd be the first documented person to own one. Which feels more fitting than a standard RGB at this point. Riot, if you're reading this - you know where to find me (on my Discord).

You get a confirmation at the end of the form. If you did not see one something may have gone wrong - message me on Discord and I will check.

Yes. Message me on Discord with your in-game name and what needs to change. I will sort it.

I can see that on my end and will remove the duplicate. Nothing to do on your side.

No. Four separate times across the project a Riot developer offered me one. I said no every time. Accepting it mid-project would have compromised what the whole thing was about. The research was supposed to be about understanding how others got it - not about me getting one on the side.

If it ever comes it should be because 2.5 years of work and 450+ conversations earned it. Not because someone felt generous in a lobby while the spreadsheet was open. That distinction matters.

Yes, a few. Genuinely disappointing entries. But it is not a reliable path - it is the exception and not the rule. The consistent pattern across hundreds of entries is kindness, not behaviour history.

Yes. Riot developers are not looking at your account history before deciding - they are watching how you play in that game, in that moment. It's about how you show up now.

Hi - I'm Mud (short for Mudxiej). I started this at 19. Previously Community and Social Media Manager at SteelSeries and 3D Aim Trainer. Games are meant to be fun - I never focused on rank even when I worked at an aim training company. This is what pushes me in

Couldn't put "Riot" in the name since that's reserved for Riot employees. So RGB Data Collector it was. The bonus: when someone in a lobby asks what RGB stands for I tell them I work at an LED company checking lumen compliance on strip lights. Stupid but it works when I don't want to explain the whole thing mid-game.

A girl matched with someone on Tinder. Went on a date. He was a Riot developer - she didn't know that going in. Things didn't really click but before they went their separate ways he gave her the Riot Gun Buddy. She started ghosting him after. Actual in-game conversation.

With the RGB project - if you know someone who has a Riot Gun Buddy, send them to the form. Every entry counts. With the LOADOUT Project - join the Discord for info on how to get involved when that opens up.