Valorant recently received an update to combat the growing number of cheaters wreaking havoc in online play. The Vanguard VGK is a new anti-cheat feature that affects any PC user utilizing DMA firmware with SATA/NVMe to shift games in their favor. Riot Games even posted a picture via Twitter showing a load of disabled PC hardware from the new anti-cheat, which enraged its fanbase.
Many fans were upset about the VGK’s ability to damage PC hardware remotely, violating ownership for both cheaters and fans. Riot Games quickly recognized the confusion before denying the bricking claims and clarifying the actual processes for the Vanguard. It’s stated not to physically damage hardware, but block any chance for DMA features to activate properly within protected memory. When a user tries multiple cheats for any current Riot Games project, the multiple attempts would likely cause hardware faults or instability rather than breaking internal parts.
The Vanguard anti-cheat mainly targets PC hardware that manages any DMA feature, so it won’t affect any fan without it. It is possible for cheaters to make their PCs function by turning off the DMA feature, which will force them to play Valorant properly. It’s also possible for them to keep the cheats by disabling the Input-Output Memory Management Unit (IOMMU), though VGK will activate when playing any Riot Games’ games. The developers state that they wouldn’t ever consider damaging the fans’ hardware.
