In the latest League of Legends update, patch 14.9, a new anti-cheat system named Vanguard was introduced, sparking a wave of complaints from players who allege that it is causing significant issues with their computers. Riot Games, the developer behind League of Legends, has responded to these claims.
LoL devs responded to Vanguard “bricking” players PC
Vanguard, which was originally featured in Riot’s Valorant launch, operates at the kernel level and has faced criticism in the past for its extensive access to users’ systems, leading some to label it as spyware.
Despite previous controversy, Riot proceeded to implement Vanguard into League of Legends with the release of patch 14.9 on May 1. Since then, numerous players have taken to social media platforms like Reddit to report that the anti-cheat software is “bricking” their computers or disrupting their internal functions.
Notably, prominent League content creator Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare shared his experience of the anti-cheat system allegedly rendering two of his PCs unusable and cautioned players to approach the update with caution.
However, Riot’s senior anti-cheat analyst, Matt ‘K30’ Paoletti, took to Reddit to refute claims that the technical issues stem from Vanguard’s implementation.
“An issue like this wouldn’t be related to Vanguard. If you haven’t restarted your computer in a while, it could related to an issue with your CMOS battery, since that’s what powers the start-up chain,”
In a comprehensive statement on Reddit, K30 also clarified that Riot has not confirmed the software’s role in causing PCs to malfunction.
“Since 14.9 went live, fewer than 0.03% of players have reported issues with Vanguard. In most cases, these are common error codes such as VAN codes 128, 152, 1067, -81, 9001, or 68 that are easily solved through player support or troubleshooting, and account for the vast majority of issues we are seeing,”
Furthermore, he announced the company’s intention to release a detailed report on the rollout of Vanguard in the near future, offering transparency regarding its impact on players’ systems.