Riot Games’ Senior Anti-cheat Analyst defends Vanguard amid “large scale attacks” as League of Legends cheaters bid for the dissolution of the software.
Only a few days after the League of Legends 14.9 patch and the implementation of Riot Games anti-cheat software across all regions, plenty of rumors about the risks of its kernel-level access have floated across LoL communities.
The reports have ranged from taking screenshots of your PC, even if League of Legends is not open, to tampering with PC files. While these reports have yet to be confirmed back then, some players already bid goodbye to the MOBA game to avoid giving Riot Games kernel-level access to their computers.
Riot Games’ Senior Anti-cheat Analyst, Gamer Doc, finally spoke up about the Vanguard rumors and labeled these reports of intrusive activity as a “large-scale attack” from cheaters in an attempt to sway the devs’ decision to pull out of the implementation.
Vanguard only takes screenshots of League of Legends client, Riot Games clarifies
The devs stand on their ground to curb, if not completely eliminate, the rampant cheating incidents on ranked League of Legends matches. Moreover, GamerDoc expresses that Riot Games will remain relentless in “protecting player experience” and the game’s integrity.
On a lengthy explainer on Reddit, Riot Games also refuted claims of intrusive and out-of-usual activity that players have linked with Vanguard.
In their letter to the community, the devs clarified several issues, including speculations that Vanguard constantly takes screen captures and monitors your desktop activity. The devs detail that screenshotting is a common trait of all anti-cheat software and is not exclusive to Vanguard.
They also clarify that Vanguard only takes screenshots of the game, “it will take a picture of your game client (in fullscreen) and the region your game client occupies (in windowed/borderless) for suspicious activity related to ESP hacks.”
Moreover, Riot Games clarifies that there is no proof that Vanguard bricks people’s computers. The players who reported that Vanguard bricked their hardware were isolated cases, with one “accidentally enabled SecureBoot,” which is the culprit behind the hardware issue.
Despite massive calls from long-time players who bid goodbye to League of Legends after the Vanguard implementation, Riot Games remains steadfast in its decision to fully punish scripters and hackers.