Riot games It said it “does not and cannot” brick players' PCs after many people claimed that the company's Vanguard anti-cheat software was disabling their devices. Riot Games is the developer behind the incredibly popular League of Legends and brave, And its Vanguard system is meant to combat increasingly sophisticated fraud and fraud, particularly hardware-based methods used to bypass traditional anti-cheat protections.
On May 19, a Vanguard update appears to be blocking DMA, or direct memory access, devices using SATA or NVMe firmware. Claims began to circulate that Vanguard was bricking PCs, and comical images of the “red screen of death” faced by players began to appear on social media. Riot Games, perhaps unwittingly, fueled the rumors two days later by posting an image showing a collection of cheating tools with the caption “Congratulations to the owners of a brand new $6k paperweight”. Some users started alleging that the Vanguard update made the DMA firmware unusable even after uninstalling the anti-cheat software. Others said they started receiving instability warnings about the input-output memory management unit, or IOMMU, security feature.
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Riot Games says Vanguard does not brick PCs
In response to rumors circulating online, Riot Games responded, saying on Twitter that “Vanguard will not damage hardware or disable your devices.” The paperweight joke specifically referred to fraudulent hardware no longer working brave The studio further explained that its latest Vanguard updates are intended to apply standard security protections such as IOMMU to accounts detected using DMA-based fraud. These protections prevent unauthorized memory access by rogue devices but do not permanently disable PCs or components. Any hardware faults or instability experienced by users, clear riots, are the expected behavior of those security safeguards and not intentional damage caused by Vanguard. “We do not, and cannot, affect your PC's functionality in any other fashion.”
In a Twitter post, the developer further clarified that disabling IOMMU will allow DMA devices to function normally outside of Riot games. However, IOMMU conservation will still need to start brave Moreover, normal players will not experience any hardware-related issues, as the update only affects DMA-based cheating hardware. In a second, FAQ-style post, Riot reiterated that “no hardware was damaged and no other functionality was affected.” The situation is reminiscent of similar claims that appeared in 2024, when some users alleged that Vanguard updates caused PCs to fail. At the time, Riot said it was unable to verify reports that anti-cheat software was bricking computers.
The situation has sparked widespread discussion about the increasingly aggressive measures being taken to combat cheating in video games. DMA hardware, in particular, has been a concern for developers as it can directly access system memory to bypass many traditional anti-cheat systems. Riot has Vanguard as one of the industry's most advanced anti-cheat systems, and many players welcome the company's tough stance against cheating. At the same time, though, there are concerns about kernel-level anti-cheat software, potential privacy issues, and the degree to which developers are interacting with player hardware to achieve their goals.
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Despite periodic controversies about Vanguard and other anti-cheat software, brave Huge success continues for Riot. The first-person tactical shooter has maintained a strong player base worldwide since its launch in 2020. The game receives regular seasonal updates, new agents, and anti-cheat improvements, and it maintains a healthy esports presence.
- issued
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June 2, 2020
- ESRB
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T for Teens: Blood, Language, Violence
