Riot Games’ anti-cheat system, VALORANT: Vanguard, has seen a surge in cheater activity during the recent holiday break. The system prompts a swift response and record-breaking ban rates. Phillip “mirageofpenguins” Koskinas from the Vanguard team reported an increase in cheating, particularly in regions like Brazil, during the code freeze period when updates and hotfixes were paused. Cheaters, capitalizing on the reduced anti-cheat activity, saw a temporary rise in prevalence.
VALORANT: Vanguard hits Bans-Per-Second Record
However, with the holiday break over, Vanguard has returned with full force, pushing cheater numbers back down below 1% globally. Koskinas expressed optimism that this level will remain stable for the coming months, with plans to implement “surprise” updates during future breaks to prevent similar spikes.
Brazil experienced a significant surge, with cheaters exploiting “pixelbots” – computer vision tools that automate aiming. While these are easily detected, they still caused frustration for players. Other regions presented unique challenges: Korea’s system of national identity verification for gaming provides a strong deterrent; Asia Pacific struggles with cheaters using VPNs to bypass local server restrictions; North America sees a rise in expensive DMA hardware cheating; and Europe deals with kernel cheats using stolen certificates. Turkey faces issues with pre-installed cheats in PC cafes.
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Koskinas acknowledged the inevitability of cheaters but stressed Vanguard’s commitment to making cheating as difficult and costly as possible. The team’s goal is to waste cheaters’ time and resources, slowing their ability to adapt and find new exploits. Recent data shows a record-breaking ban velocity, with nearly 7 suspensions per minute during a peak weekend. The median cheater is now only able to play 6 games before being banned.
To further combat the issue, Riot is introducing Ranked Rollback, restoring RR lost due to cheaters. They are also improving cheat reporting feedback, providing players with notifications when their reports lead to bans. Finally, they addressed the issue of cheat advertisements on platforms like TikTok, clarifying that most are scams or promoting already-banned methods. Riot reaffirmed its dedication to maintaining fair play and will continue its efforts to ban cheaters from the VALORANT community.
