Valorant Updates Anti-Cheat After Major Ban Wave

Summary

• Valorant is taking action against hackers with ranked rollbacks, which reverse progress or rank if a match is affected by cheaters.
• These new measures aim to penalize cheaters and ensure fair play for all Valorant players.
• Players on the same team as hackers will retain their rank rating, avoiding unfair losses.

Valorant is stepping up its fight against hackers by introducing ranked rollbacks, a new strategy to combat the recent surge in cheating. Valorant's head of anti-cheat, Phillip Koskinas, has warned cheaters that Riot Games can now "hit so much harder" with these new changes.

Cheating and hacking have long plagued online games, with players seeking unfair advantages. Despite Valorant boasting one of the best anti-cheat systems, the game has recently seen an increase in hackers disrupting player experiences. In response, Riot Games is implementing stricter measures to penalize cheaters.

Koskinas took to Twitter to address the cheating issue in Valorant, reassuring players that the studio is actively working on solutions. The new strategy includes ranked rollbacks, where a player's progress or rank will be reversed if their match was lost due to cheaters. Koskinas shared a chart illustrating the number of cheaters banned by Riot's Vanguard system in January, with the peak occurring on January 13.

Riot Games' Future Valorant Bans Will Include Ranked Rollbacks

A player raised a concern about what happens when they win a match with a cheater on their team, highlighting the unfairness to both the opposing team and those unknowingly paired with hackers. Koskinas clarified that players on the same team as hackers will keep their rank rating, while the opposing team will have theirs restored. He acknowledged that this approach might be inflationary but expressed confidence in moving forward with the strategy.

Valorant's Vanguard system, known for its effectiveness in detecting and banning cheaters, operates at a kernel-level security clearance on PCs. Its success has inspired other popular games, like Call of Duty, to adopt similar anti-cheat measures. Although studios have successfully removed cheaters from their games in the past, new methods of cheating always seem to emerge.

Valorant has already banned thousands of players, offering hope to those frustrated by hackers in their ranked matches. Riot Games remains committed to addressing this issue and curbing the latest wave of hackers. The effectiveness of the new ranked rollback system will be closely watched in the coming months.