In response to the security breach in early 2023 and the increasing prevalence of botting and cheating, Riot Games has decided to implement their proprietary anti-cheat system, Riot Vanguard, into League of Legends in 2024.
The online gaming landscape is rife with cheaters, and developers constantly seek effective ways to combat them. While numerous anti-cheat systems exist, few have garnered the attention and scrutiny of Riot Vanguard. Launched alongside the FPS game Valorant, Riot Vanguard has earned both praise for its effectiveness and criticism for its deep system access.
What is Riot Vanguard?
Riot Vanguard is a proprietary anti-cheat software developed by Riot Games, actively employed in Valorant since the game's launch. It aims to uphold competitive integrity by employing various measures to prevent cheating.
It consists of two parts: a client that runs while you're playing a Riot game, and a kernel-mode driver that runs at the deepest level of your system.
Utilising a kernel-level driver, it operates at a low level of your system, enabling it to monitor and analyse processes for any suspicious activity related to cheating.
Riot Vanguard also AI-learning to identify patterns and behaviours indicative of cheating, allowing it to adapt to new and evolving cheat methods. If Vanguard detects anything suspicious, it takes action to prevent the cheat from working, including terminating the game, banning the player, and forwarding information to Riot Games for further investigation.
As Riot Vanguard has kernel-level access to cheaters' PCs, it can identify the hardware and prohibit that computer from running the game again. Aside from removing cheaters, this also discourages them from simply creating a new account to play the game.
When will Riot Vanguard arrive in LoL?
As revealed in the "Season 2024 Look Ahead" developer video, Riot Vanguard is expected to arrive in League of Legends between late February and early March. We'll update this article with the exact date as soon as it's available!
It has been confirmed that players will be required to install Vanguard to play League of Legends.
How do I install Riot Vanguard?
Riot Vanguard automatically installs alongside the VALORANT game client. So, if you already have VALORANT installed, you're good to go!
However, if you don't have Valorant (and therefore Vanguard), you can't download Vanguard separately just yet. Riot hasn't announced a standalone installation option, but we can expect further details in February. We'll update this article if anything changes before then!
Due to Riot Vanguard’s deep system access, some users are concerned about Vanguard's potential privacy implications. While Riot emphasises its commitment to data privacy, the level of access can be unsettling for some. Reported system performance issues and past controversies haven't eased these anxieties, leading some players to consider leaving League of Legends altogether.
However, while the arrival of Vanguard raises questions and concerns, it also represents a significant step towards a fairer League of Legends experience. By tackling cheating head-on, it aims to create a more balanced and enjoyable playing field for everyone!
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