Riot Games Now Requires Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat Software for League of Legends, Following Valorant's Implementation

Hal-5700X@lemmy.world to Games@lemmy.world – 140 points –
Riot Requires Kernel Level Anti-Cheat Software
tuta.com

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10958052

Vanguard, the controversial anti-cheat software initially attached to Valorant, is now also coming to League of Legends.

Summary:

The article discusses Riot Games' requirement for players to install their Vanguard anti-cheat software, which runs at the kernel level, in order to play their games such as League of Legends and Valorant. The software aims to combat cheating by scanning for known vulnerabilities and blocking them, as well as monitoring for suspicious activity while the game is being played. However, the use of kernel-level software raises concerns about privacy and security, as it grants the company complete access to users' devices.

The article highlights that Riot Games is owned by Tencent, a Chinese tech giant that has been involved in censorship and surveillance activities in China. This raises concerns that Vanguard could potentially be used for similar purposes, such as monitoring players' activity and restricting free speech in-game.

Ultimately, the decision to install Vanguard rests with players, but the article urges caution and encourages players to consider the potential risks and implications before doing so.

14

No game is worth installing a root-kit for. Shame.

What makes an anticheat a rootkit? Rootkits are malicious and don't generally come with EULAs and uninstallers.

What makes an anticheat a rootkit?

A kernel-mode driver that runs at boot time. If your game doesn't run in user space, I don't want it on my system.

A piece of kit that has root access. No game should have that level of access to your system.

Fuck that, fuck kernel anti-cheats. Third party AVs have caused enough BSODs because of their kernel hooks and was finally able to free myself when MS defender actually got good.

What a massive freaking L for Riot, Vanguard was the reason why I didn't play Valorant

Haven’t played LOL in years but TFT is fun occasionally.. guess it’s time to uninstall that launcher and completely cut off riot from my machine then

Lol, they can shove their games up to their rectum.

The worst part is it doesn't even stop cheating.

I know that cheating ruins games and all, but straightaway opening a hole on my system because of such isn't the right way to deal with it.