As contentious as Valorant’s Vanguard anti-cheat process has been, it appears to be yielding some results. According to a tweet from anti-cheat pipeline designer Phillip Koskinas, 8,873 cheaters have been punted from the game’s closed beta, or as Koskinas put it, we’ve all been moved to “a Valorant universe where there were 8873 less cheaters.”
This success might not wholly validate the Vanguard process, but it is sweetened by the written reactions of those who have been caught. A number of posts written at an unnamed cheaters forum include some truly delicious whining, with more than a few banned players claiming they were only using cheats in practice mode for a couple of minutes.
“People were banned for using the cheats for 2 minutes in the practice arena,” bemoaned one poster. “I’m pretty sure as long as the cheat was installed, the ban was issued. Do they not have some lenience?”
“GG Riot,” snarled another. “I didn’t even cheat in real games, just 5 mins in practice tool, and I know you’re reading these Phillip Koskinas.”
Reportedly, the complaints about being caught has even caused some of the members of this cheaters forum to roll their eyes. “I respect those who made threads trying to find ways to bypass/spoof through the anti-cheat, but as for everyone else, please, I beg you, please stop,” reads a quoted response. So clearly, if you’re crying foul so loud that other cheaters are annoyed with you, then perhaps things are working as intended. When Vanguard isn’t trying to melt your system, anyway.
Also worth a look this week is a new video from Frankengadget that deep-dives Vanguard and its security.
