Riot denies Vanguard is bricking PCs, says it can’t impact functionality
▼ Summary
– Riot’s Vanguard anti-cheat, a kernel-level program required for Valorant and League of Legends, has faced past accusations of “bricking” PCs.
– A 2024 update allegedly caused some users’ computers to malfunction, with claims that Vanguard rendered DMA cheat firmware unusable even after uninstalling the game.
– Riot issued a statement clarifying that Vanguard “does not in any way brick PCs or PC components or PC software.”
– The update targets specific cheat hardware devices, making them worthless, but does not permanently damage the PC.
– Riot explained that disabling IOMMU (Input-Output Memory Management Unit) allows the cheat device to function, but IOMMU is required to play their games, meaning the cheat device simply won’t work with Riot titles.
Riot Games’ Vanguard anti-cheat is once again under scrutiny, with fresh accusations that a recent update has been bricking PCs. The controversy echoes complaints from the software’s early days with Valorant, when players raised concerns over its kernel-level access. Similar allegations resurfaced when Vanguard was integrated into League of Legends in 2024, with prominent streamer Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare among those reporting post-launch issues. Now, some users claim a new patch has rendered their machines unusable, but Riot has pushed back firmly, stating that Vanguard “does not in any way brick PCs or PC components or PC software.”
To play either Valorant or League of Legends, Vanguard must be installed. As a kernel-level anti-cheat, it operates at the deepest layer of your operating system, preventing hackers from easily bypassing Riot’s defenses. This approach has proven effective, with games now terminating mid-match when cheaters are detected.
The latest wave of concern began when a user named ‘ogisada’ posted on X, alleging that “the majority of DMA firmwares using SATA/NVMe” were being targeted by Vanguard. For context, DMA firmware is software used to disguise cheats on a machine, while SATA and NVMe refer to SSD types. Ogisada claimed that “VGK [Vanguard] suddenly triggered an IOMMU restart warning in-game, after which the DMA firmware becomes completely unusable, even without the game running or after uninstalling Vanguard. Only fix is a full OS reinstall.” In simpler terms, the accusation was that Vanguard was disabling cheat hardware even when Valorant wasn’t running, forcing a complete Windows reinstall to recover.
Riot responded by clarifying that Vanguard “does not in any way brick PCs or PC components or PC software.” The company noted that the image accompanying ogisada’s tweet “is a picture of cheat hardware devices that are sold explicitly for cheating in Valorant.” According to Riot, the latest update “now makes those devices worthless.”
In a detailed explanation, Riot described how Vanguard works after the update. “Disabling IOMMU allows the cheat device to function again, but IOMMU will still be required to play our games,” the company stated. “This means the cheat device won’t work with our games, but your PC isn’t ‘bricked.’ We would not, and cannot, impact your PC’s functionality in any other fashion.”
Riot concluded by reaffirming its commitment: “We’ll keep investing in anti-cheat to protect competitive integrity, and we’ll keep being as transparent as possible about how those systems work.”
(Source: PCGamesN)
