Riot Games has once again set its sights on cheaters. As the Valorant developer recently announced, additional measures have been implemented to crack down even more effectively on cheaters, boosters, win traders, and stream snipers.
Everyone knows the situation: A promising ranked match is ruined by a cheater or booster—the frustration is immense. To ensure such cases occur less frequently in the future, Riot Games has further expanded its in-house anti-cheat system and equipped it with new detection mechanisms. But what does that mean exactly?
Boosters Are in for a Rough Time
One of the developers’ main focuses is the fight against so-called “boosting.” In this practice, experienced players use a fresh or deliberately low-ranked account to help others artificially improve their rank. The result is unbalanced matches that frustrate both teammates and opponents, since matchmaking is actually supposed to pair players with comparable skill levels.
Based on the experience Riot Games has already gained with League of Legends, an improved system for detecting boosting has now been implemented in Valorant as well. For understandable reasons, the company did not want to reveal exactly how this works. However, the goal is to detect boosting much more reliably and take more consistent action against it.
Win-trading? That could lead to an immediate loss
Furthermore, Riot Games aims to be better equipped in the future to detect suspicious gameplay patterns and intentional losses that indicate so-called “win-trading.” This is a form of match-fixing in which two teams or players agree on the outcome of a match before it even begins.
According to the developers, new analytical tools will identify such patterns more quickly and prevent attempts at manipulation much more effectively in the future.
Players who gain an unfair advantage through stream sniping will also come under increased scrutiny. Anyone who uses information from their opponents’ livestreams during ongoing matches must also expect consequences.
These penalties may apply
Anyone caught cheating, boosting, win-trading, or stream-sniping faces, in the worst case, the permanent loss of their account. Account restoration is generally not possible in such cases.
Furthermore, Riot Games reserves the right to impose additional sanctions. These include temporary bans, the loss of Ranked Points (RR) and Matchmaking Rating (MMR), the revocation of the current rank, and the removal of rewards already earned.
The goal of these measures is to strengthen the integrity of Valorant’s Ranked mode in the long term and to create a level playing field for all players.