Riot’s Vanguard anti-cheat has faced controversy since 2020 over security concerns, mid-game crashes, and bans affecting other games. A recent update detects and disables DMA cheating tools used for Valorant even when Valorant is not running or installed. Riot posted a tweet showing “bricked” DMA cards described as “$6k paperweights,” then clarified that Vanguard makes the devices worthless for Valorant without bricking PCs, components, or software. Despite the clarification, players report problems after the update, including allegations of false detection, serious PC issues, and claims of bans or forced reinstalls. Concerns persist among players who say they have never cheated.
"Recently, Riot Games pushed an update that detects and disables DMA (or direct memory access) cheating tools used for Valorant, even when a Riot game isn't running or actively installed. Some players without DMA cards, who claim they've never cheated, have also alleged that Vanguard is now falsely detecting cheating software and causing some serious PC problems."
"congrats to the owners of a brand new $6k paperweight https://t.co/3rjZVQntrc pic.twitter.com/fS3JC0FL0p - Riot Games (@riotgames) May 21, 2026"
"Later, Riot clarified that Vanguard isn't actually bricking these devices. "Through our latest updates, Vanguard now makes those devices worthless for VAL, but does not in any way brick PCs or PC components or PC software," its new tweet read."
"While Riot has no clarified it was just joking about bricking devices, quite a few players are still concerned its anti-cheat tools are getting to aggro. Scroll through the right now, and you'll see that almost every recent post is a complaint about Vanguard. Obviously, the players who cheat via DMA are unhappy about these pricey tools being disabled in Riot subreddit Valorant -that's a given. But the most important part of all of this is that, despite Riot's claims, players who claim they haven't cheated at all say they are having issues with the new Vanguard update, too."
Read at Kotaku
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