
These are cheats that depend on an external piece of hardware to run functionally, intended to try to bypass both protections and detections implemented by the team.


There’s been an increased popularity in hardware cheats. We could write a thesis on this whole subject (maybe a video would be more entertaining?), but we’ll sum it up briefly. STATE OF CHEATING TODAYĬombating cheating is not a “set it and forget it” solution like an advanced anti-cheat or some sentient AI - it’s a continual arms race. Certain regions saw spikes in report rates, but through additional investigation and intelligence efforts, as well as continual improvements to Vanguard, we’ve been able to negate these spikes and keep competitive integrity globally strong. The global popularity of VALORANT has created a global market for these nefarious actors, and we make sure to respond accordingly. Still, the team is combating increased cheating efforts, as cheaters and cheat developers continue to attempt to implement new techniques. Thanks to ongoing detection systems in place and, in part, to a previous rollout of meta-game system updates to VALORANT’s ranked, the number of report rates for cheating are trending downward, and are at the lowest they’ve ever been. As always, we routinely review our pro players-starting as early as the open qualifiers-as well as maintain a secure and protected live environment. During our first major international LANs in Reykjavík and Berlin, we were able to see the high level of play from our online events be realized as an even more competitive offline experience. Only good news here, VCT went really well. We focused on accuracy above all for these actioning waves, and we want to increase their cadence in the future (more on that below). This was addressed throughout the year by automated actions. Boosters deliberately queued with cheaters, while cheating, in order to get “bussed” to the higher ranks. EPISODE 2 REPORTġ80-day penalty for “bussing” (updated from the previous 90-day penalty duration, as of June 2022)Īs long-term cheating became increasingly unviable, cheaters created disruption in the competitive ecosystem in new ways.


Our biggest projects during VALORANT Episode 3 (so far) came from maintaining competitive integrity, both on ladder and esports, and staying ahead of the curve in the “arms race” of cheat versus anti-cheat.īut first, a quick review on where we left off on Episode 2. Hello, it’s Matt “K3o” Paoletti here again on behalf of the VALORANT Anti-Cheat team, this time with an update on anti-cheat in Episode 3.
