Riot Games
After the addition of Vanguard Anti-Cheat software to League of Legends, reports of it messing with players’ PCs started popping up online, but Riot Games claims it’s not their software’s fault.
After releasing a patch that finally added its Anti-Cheat software to League of Legends, developer Riot Games found themselves immersed in a bit of a controversy after reports started popping up about users whose PCs had been rendered inoperable by the company’s proprietary security program, claiming that its kernel-level operation had essentially “bricked” their computers after updating.
Vanguard, as the Riot anti-cheat software is called, was added to League of Legends as part of Patch 14.9, with promises that by adding it to the MOBA, it’s matches would be “free from scripters, botters, and cheaters!” But just as soon as it was released, users started claiming that the software affected their PCs. Multiple users posted on the game’s subreddit, showing off their now useless PCs. A few days after this started, Riot Games themselves posted a lengthy statement on the same subreddit addressing the situation.
“At this point in time, we have not confirmed any instances of Vanguard bricking anyone’s hardware, but we want to encourage anyone who’s having issues to contact Player Support so we can look into it and help out,” wrote a Riot spokesperson. “We’ve individually resolved a few of the major threads you may have seen so far of users claiming this with their machines and have confirmed that Vanguard wasn’t the cause of the issues they were facing.”
Alongside revealing that they’d personally contacted the users who claimed to have been affected by the update to help them figure out their PC problems, which led to them figuring out that Vanguard was in fact not the culprit in these situations, they also included some first response troubleshooting. Apparently, should users find themselves in a similar situation, they should look to enable UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) and TPM 2.0 straight from their computer’s BIOS to fix the issue.
Still, the post encourages players to keep an eye out for bugs when playing League of Legends and to immediately contact player support to report anything out of the ordinary, or to receive assistance should the need for it arise. Vanguard has actually been in operation in another of the company’s titles, Valorant, which launched back in 2020.
FAQs
In response to rumors, Riot Games anti-cheat manager Matthew "Riot K3o" Paoletti posted an update to the League of Legends subreddit, stating there were no confirmed instances of Vanguard outright bricking a user's PC.
Does Vanguard brick your PC? ›
Other than that Vanguard is a driver that's only part of your operating system, it has nothing to do with the BIOS and thus cannot brick your computer itself. The worst it could do is crash your OS, i.e. cause bluescreens.
Is Vanguard Anticheat trustworthy? ›
Valorant's developers have stepped in to dispel sinister rumors about anti-cheat client Vanguard. Controversial posts have been surfacing that say Riot Games' security software has been volatile for PC players and has been taking screenshots of sensitive information and chats.
Is Riot Vanguard really that bad? ›
for those not in the loop, Vanguard is the anti-cheat Riot Games created for Valorant, their competitive first person shooter. The issue with Vanguard is that it's quite an aggressive anti-cheat, it runs on Ring 0 as a windows kernel driver. Hence, why some people call it a "rootkit".
Is Vanguard harmful for PC? ›
Is Riot Vanguard safe? Compared to other, superficial anti-cheat systems, Vanguard operates at the kernel level, boosting it's ability to access the deepest layers of a player's PC, a significant safety risk that hackers could exploit for malicious intent, according to some players.
Is Vanguard still bricking computers? ›
Highlights. Riot Games denies Vanguard bricking PCs, encourages players to report bugs and seek assistance for League of Legends stability issues. Vanguard's screenshot reporting system targets in-game activity, not entire operating systems or monitors, meeting privacy laws and player rights.
What does Riot Vanguard do to your PC? ›
Once a game is launched, Vanguard merely confirms system integrity for gameplay, without transmitting files back to Riot servers. Koskinas asserts that data collection is kept to a minimum, with stringent retention rates and a focus on shipping queries to clients with binary responses (true or false).
Is Vanguard a spyware? ›
Vanguard is a kernel-level anti-cheat akin to the ones found in other multiplayer games like Fortnite and Warzone. Players have previously made accusations that it's spyware, but attempting to download Vanguard does result in a message alerting you that it will have access to your PC's core functions.
Should I uninstall Riot Vanguard? ›
To ensure the integrity of players' games, Riot Vanguard must be active during League of Legends gameplay and any time the League Client is open. Attempting to uninstall, exit, or interact with Riot Vanguard in an unsanctioned way will prevent you from playing the game.
How intrusive is Riot Vanguard? ›
Unlike other games with anti-cheat measures, Valorant's Vanguard runs 24/7, even when the game is not being played, raising suspicions about its intentions. There are concerns about the potential misuse of users' data by Riot Games, the developer of Valorant, and its parent company, Tencent.
How we keep you safe. We use a broad range of physical and electronic controls. All account information passing between your computer and our systems is securely encrypted.
Is Vanguard anti-cheat safe on Reddit? ›
To boil it down: Vanguard has the potential, even more so than most other kernel anticheats, to cause severe harm to your network and computer because its a security risk by design. HOWEVER, chances are this will take many years to get exploited and might never be. TLDR: if you trust riot then Vanguard is safe to use.
Will LOL remove Vanguard? ›
There's no chance that they remove vanguard the product already works with valorant and the vast majority of people have no technical issues beyond doing something that isn't fully supported by the client like the problems with replay files.
Does Vanguard affect PC performance? ›
Player Experiences with Vanguard
Many players, including the original poster, dudebg, have reported severe stuttering in the game as a result of Vanguard running. Some have found temporary relief by using alt+tab, while others suggested tweaking FPS limits or checking running programs like MSI Afterburner.
Will League brick my PC? ›
Riot Claims New League of Legends Anti-Cheat Software Is Not Bricking PCs After Community Outcry.
Is League Vanguard safe? ›
The client and the driver of Riot Vanguard were developed in-house with a priority on both game safety and personal computer safety. We've made this commitment through extensive testing and by reviewing the product internally and with external security audits by industry experts.
Can you play LOL without Vanguard? ›
Starting this year, Vanguard must be installed properly to open and play either League of Legends or VALORANT. More information on Vanguard's addition to League of Legends was shared in Riot Games' latest “Look Ahead" video.
