Riot Games has revealed that cheating in Valorant is at an all-time low, thanks to its continued efforts in the improvement of its custom anti-cheat software, Riot Vanguard. Released in 2020, Valorant is a free-to-play first person hero shooter for the PC, and its popularity continues to soar thanks to consistent updates bringing new features and content to the game.

Cheaters utilizing hacks have continued to cause problems for most multiplayer FPS titles on the market, with developers required to consistently come up with new ways to combat exploits. On release, Valorant featured a kernel-level anti-cheat software titled Vanguard, which drew a lot of criticism from fans and critics due to the software starting up by default during a computer’s boot up, and requiring permissions that would allow it to collect data unrelated to the game. Following in Riot’s footsteps, Activision’s upcoming Call of Duty: Vanguard will include a similar anti-cheat, and will also be implemented in its free-to-play battle royale, Warzone.

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In a new post on the official Valorant website, Riot Games’ Senior Anti-Cheat Analyst Matt Paoletti updated fans on the current state of cheating and hacks in the game’s Episode 3, revealing that cheating was at an all-time low. Describing the team’s ongoing battle with cheating as “a continual arms race,” the post also revealed that the game will automatically ban players who engage in “bussing,” which is when a player teams up with a person utilizing hacks in order to get “bussed” to higher ranks. Paoletti reiterated that despite the studio's success in its efforts, cheaters will still exist in some form. However, Riot’s focus is to keep cheating at a low level, and to ensure that “cheating is never a viable way to long term competitive success.”

The warriors from Valorant pose against a giant "V."

Paoletti also attributed the studio’s success with its ongoing efforts to combat hackers to the continued improvements to Riot’s anti-cheat software, Vanguard. The company’s efforts in improving its security software include a bounty of up to $100,000 for Valorant Vanguard exploit discoveries. The post also detailed new trends the team faced when combatting cheating, which included hardware cheats and machine learning programs. Paoletti noted that while developers have previously stated that A.I. cheats are next to impossible to detect, this was not the case, adding that they were also looking at other methods of cheating outside of typical aimbot programs.

While fans may have been apprehensive about Valorant’s Vanguard, it's good to see that Riot’s continued efforts with its software have paid off for both the game and its players. It’s unsurprising that the company has dedicated the year to addressing behavior that negatively impacts gameplay, considering Valorant had over 14 million players monthly in June. Hopefully, this means that fans can enjoy the game’s upcoming Episode 3, Act 3 to the fullest, without having their matches soured by cheaters.

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Valorant is available on PC.

Source: Valorant