Riot Games has stepped in to squash rumors that it’s utilizing its Vanguard anti-cheat to “brick” the PCs of gamers who get caught dishonest in its video games.
Rumors that the League of Legends and Valorant developer was bringing a everlasting finish to cheaters unfold late yesterday following an X/Twitter post from the corporate. In response to a separate put up about its anti-cheat efforts, Riot posted a picture displaying a group of {hardware} with the message “congrats to the homeowners of a model new $6k paperweight.”
It was a tongue-in-cheek crack at cheaters that quickly developed into rumors that the corporate had the ability to render PCs ineffective. It took Riot lower than a day to clear the air, confirming each that it “wouldn’t, and can’t, affect your PC’s performance” and that the paperweights it referred to had been {hardware} used “explicitly for dishonest.” To place it plainly, Riot stated, “Vanguard doesn’t harm {hardware} or disable your units.”
congrats to the homeowners of a model new $6k paperweight https://t.co/3rjZVQntrc pic.twitter.com/fS3JC0FL0p
— Riot Games (@riotgames) May 21, 2026
“The photograph we posted is an image of cheat {hardware} units which are bought explicitly for dishonest in VALORANT (not regular PCs or PC elements),” Riot stated. “Via our newest updates, Vanguard now makes these units nugatory for VAL, however doesn’t in any manner brick PCs or PC elements or PC software program.
“Our newest replace enforces commonplace platform safety features, just like the Enter-Output Reminiscence Administration Unit (IOMMU), on accounts recognized as utilizing Direct Reminiscence Entry (DMA) dishonest units. These protections are already a part of trendy techniques and when enabled, they block DMA cheat units (akin to these proven within the photograph) from accessing reminiscence in downstream purposes, like our video games.”
Riot continued, explaining that cheaters might run into {hardware} faults or instability in the event that they continued cheat makes an attempt. It added that “that is anticipated conduct,” but when IOMMU is disabled, the dishonest system ought to operate as regular. Moreover, solely those that use DMA-based cheats might be affected by the aforementioned points.
“This implies the cheat system received’t work with our video games, however your PC isn’t ‘bricked.’ We might not, and can’t, affect your PC’s performance in every other vogue,” it continued.
“We’ll maintain investing in anti-cheat to guard aggressive integrity, and we’ll maintain being as clear as doable about how these techniques work.”
The League of Legends firm additional tried to dodge controversy with a follow-up post. In it, Riot stated that it “did not” joke about bricking PCs, solely about Valorant dishonest units. It even instructed cheaters on how one can repair any paperweight-ing that will have occurred however says that, so long as they’re utilizing DMA cheats, they “will not have the ability to play our video games.”
Riot’s newest try and quell fan outcry follows the same dialog that sprouted up round Vanguard in 2024. On the time, gamers claimed that the developer was utilizing anti-cheat to brick PCs earlier than the corporate stepped in to say that it was unable to substantiate any experiences of bricking going down.
Michael Cripe is a contract author with IGN. He is finest recognized for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Make sure you give him a observe on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).