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How Riot Games is fighting the war against video game hackers
Riot Games is combating video game cheating through its advanced anti-cheat system, Vanguard, which operates at the kernel level. This technology allows Riot to ban thousands of cheaters daily, reducing cheating in Valorant to below 1%. The anti-cheat team employs various strategies including infiltration of cheat communities, hardware fingerprinting, and the use of psychological tactics to manage and deter cheating effectively.
Key points
- Riot Games developed Vanguard, a kernel-level anti-cheat system, allowing for deep access to user machines.
- Vanguard utilizes Windows security features to detect cheats and prevent them from running.
- The anti-cheat team bans thousands of cheaters each day, maintaining less than 1% cheater presence in Valorant ranked games.
- Strategies include infiltrating cheat communities and psychological tactics to discredit cheat developers.
- Challenging cheat developers by banning their users and obtaining their cheats via undercover operations.
- Cheats are categorized into 'rage cheats' (easily detectable) and 'premium cheats' (harder to identify).
- Future concerns include the potential use of AI to improve cheat effectiveness.
Why it matters
- Riot's anti-cheat measures reflect the rising trend of online gaming professionalism and the economic incentives for cheating.
- Historically, cheating in gaming has evolved from simple exploits to sophisticated systems supporting underground economies.
- As of 2025, the integration of AI and increased focus on cybersecurity remain prominent themes in the gaming industry.
Riot Games' ongoing battle against video game cheating, led by Vanguard, exemplifies the complexities of maintaining fair competitive gaming while navigating technological challenges, making it a pivotal topic as competitive gaming continues to grow.