Riot Games takes cheating very seriously, especially when it comes to Valorant. The game won't even boot up unless the anti-cheat software that it comes with — "Vanguard" — is present on the device trying to run the game. Riot believes these measures to be bearing fruit, however, as Philip Koskinas — the engineer behind Riot Games' anti-cheat software — recently took to Twitter to announce that Valorant has banned 8873 cheaters.
As expected, Koskinas' tweet met with claims from banned players saying that they hadn't done anything to deserve it. These kinds of comments would usually see skepticism, but Vanguard has kicked people for inconsequential things. Koskinas remains adamant, however, that these bans happened because of cheating — nothing less.
Precisely what Vanguard takes into account before it bans someone remains a mystery, but it's clear that it follows a strict system. Koskinas and the rest of his anti-cheat colleagues reportedly monitor known cheating sites to take note of any new exploits that emerge. The anti-cheat system also hones in on any cheats used while Valorant is active, regardless of if a player is practicing by themselves or in a competitive match.
Koskinas' tweet saw other dubious replies as well. Despite a large number of bans, some Valorant players claim they still run into cheaters fairly often, so they want to know exactly what kind of bans Vanguard issues. Most fans hoped for a hardware ban, but Koskinas' gave them a somewhat comical reply:
What exactly Koskinas meant by this is up for debate. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that Riot Games seems to have a "zero-tolerance policy" where cheating is concerned, which makes sense considering how many other high-profile shooters have struggled with it. Both Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone, have issues keeping their fanbases pleased concerning how they handle cheating, and Valorant is in an even more precarious situation since Riot Games plans to turn it into an eSport.
However, whether or not the current banning practice will hold up remains unseen. Vanguard has found itself the topic of numerous debates among the Valaront community due to its unusual implementations. Riot has already had to issue a hotfix because of the anti-cheats' invasive properties. Still, no one wants to play with cheaters, and since it's so easy for them to get their hands on exploits nowadays, it was only a matter of time before developers started resorting to more draconian methods to get rid of them.
Valorant is currently in closed beta and releases this summer on PC.