Valorant Updates Anti-Cheat System Following Player Feedback

A hotfix for Valorant was announced for a release on Thursday to update the game's anti-cheat system called Vanguard so that it'll play nicer with players' PC setups. The Vanguard system that comes with Valorant to block cheaters in Riot Games' tactical shooter has been the subject of numerous discussions since the closed beta began with the latest talks between players saying that the system was affecting PCs by blocking certain devices from working among other issues. This latest hotfix should address those problems, though Riot said some drivers may still be blocked outright for those who have installed Valorant.

Valorant's latest hotfix was announced on Thursday afternoon with the update scheduled to release shortly after the announcement. The Valorant Twitter account detailed what was included in the hotfix while thanking players for their feedback amid the ongoing discussions about the game's anti-cheat system.

In an hour we're shipping a hotfix for Vanguard to +up its compatibility with cheat-vulnerable drivers. Most of the previously blocked drivers should now work. Some egregious ones will cause the game not to start but now very few will be blocked outright. Thanks for the feedback.

— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) May 7, 2020

Alongside the update's announcement, Valorant anti-cheat lead Paul Chamberlain told players that they'd have to launch the game, receive the update, and then perform a reboot for everything to take effect. Chamberlain also addressed one outstanding situation with the hotfix and said Riot may still need to block drivers in the future as a last resort.

One thing to note is that the "Interception" mouse/keyboard driver is still not supported but instead of blocking it we will not let the game launch if it is loaded.

Sorry to the people out there who found themselves mouseless for a moment there!

— Paul Chamberlain (@arkem) May 7, 2020

In the future we're going to prefer non-blocking solutions to security issues/cheating vectors. We may still need to block drivers from time to time but it'll be our last resort.

We will prefer a non-invasive solution if one exists, including stopping the game from launching.

— Paul Chamberlain (@arkem) May 7, 2020

Though it's still in the closed beta stage, Valorant has been banning cheaters for a while now and will continue to do so while blocking cheats with the use of Vanguard. Anti-cheat efforts along with getting more players into the game have been touted as top priorities for Valorant by the game's team. Most recently, the developers said they'd be focusing on player behavior as well and would start by publishing a code of conduct to guide players amid recent discussions about in-game harassment.