League of Legends maker says it can't 'brick' your PC
What's the story
Riot Games, the developer behind popular games like League of Legends and Valorant, has denied rumors that its Vanguard anti-cheat system can "brick" players' PCs. The speculation stemmed from a recent post by the company showing a collection of hardware with the caption "congrats to the owners of a brand new $6k paperweight." However, Riot clarified that this was just a joke about cheaters.
Clarification
Vanguard won't damage hardware or disable devices
Riot Games was quick to clarify that it "would not, and cannot, impact your PC's functionality." The company explained that the hardware shown in their post was specifically designed for cheating. They emphasized that "Vanguard does not damage hardware or disable your devices," and the latest update only enforces standard platform security features on accounts identified as using Direct Memory Access (DMA) cheating devices.
Update impact
How does the latest update impact cheaters?
The latest update from Riot Games makes cheat devices worthless for Valorant, but doesn't brick PCs or PC components/software. The company explained that when enabled, these protections block DMA cheat devices from accessing memory in downstream applications like their games. However, cheaters may experience hardware faults or instability if they continue cheat attempts. Riot stressed this is "expected behavior," but if IOMMU is disabled, the cheating device should function normally.
Anti-cheat promise
Riot promises continued investment in anti-cheat systems
Riot Games has promised to continue investing in anti-cheat systems "to protect competitive integrity." The company also promised to be as transparent as possible about how these systems work. This isn't the first time such rumors have surfaced around Vanguard. Back in 2024, players had claimed that the developer was using anti-cheat to brick PCs. However, Riot had stepped in to say that it was unable to confirm any reports of bricking taking place.