UPDATE: 2026/05/22 19:19 EST BY RHIANNON BEVAN
Riot responds, and denies it's bricking machines.
A spokesperson from Riot got in touch with TheGamer to clarify how Vanguard works.
"There’s been a wave of claims by cheaters about Vanguard 'bricking' their PCs, but to be clear Vanguard does not damage hardware or disable devices," they said. "Our latest update enforces standard platform security features, like the Input-Output Memory Management Unit (IOMMU), on accounts identified as using Direct Memory Access (DMA) cheating devices. These protections are already part of modern systems and when enabled, they block DMA cheat devices (such as those shown in the photo) from accessing memory in downstream applications, like our games."
In other words, they're maintaining that Vanguard is not damaging their PCs. Our original report follows.
Riot Games' anti-cheat software, Vanguard, has proven incredibly effective at stopping cheaters in games like League of Legends and Valorant, but it does so by rooting into your operating system.
A major anxiety raised by players over kernel-level anti-cheat such as this is how it could potentially leave them exposed to security breaches from hackers. Riot, however, has maintained a blasé attitude to these worries, and the newest update appears to have gone a step further by bricking cheaters' PCs.
As pointed out by X user ogisada (via PCGamesN), the anti-cheat is now allegedly more aggressive, targeting the software used to disguise cheats on your machine even after uninstalling Valorant, meaning that the only fix is to reinstall your OS. "VGK suddenly triggered an IOMMU restart warning in-game, after which the DMA firmware becomes completely unusable, even without the game running," they explained.
Too Drastic? Not Everyone Is Convinced Bricking PCs Is The Right Move
In response to ogisada's post, Riot Games simply said, "congrats to the owners of a brand new $6k paperweight," which has split the community down the middle. While there are those celebrating the unforgiving punishment being doled out to hackers to ensure fair play, concerns about kernel-level anti-cheat are once again bubbling to the surface, as players liken Vanguard to malware, while also noting that bricking computers could be in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
The CFAA prohibits "intentionally damaging by knowing transmission," "recklessly damaging by intentional access," and "negligently causing damage and loss by intentional access," which could be grounds for a lawsuit if these reports of requiring a complete OS reset are founded. Not to mention that one of the crucial concerns with kernel-level anti-cheat, especially when bricking PCs, is if it misidentifies a cheater and instead punishes a legitimate player, which would arguably fall under the category of "negligently causing damage."
We reached out to Riot Games for a comment, and will update the article accordingly if a response is provided.
Valorant
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81/100 Critics Rec: 86%
- Released
- June 2, 2020
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Riot Games
- Publisher(s)
- Riot Games
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PS5 & Xbox Series X/S
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Shooter
