Privacy vs. Fair Play
Valorant’s Vanguard anti-cheat (April 2020) sparked controversy by running at kernel-level (deepest OS access) from boot. Riot justified invasiveness as necessary for competitive integrity; critics called it spyware/security risk.
How Vanguard works: Kernel-level driver starts with Windows; monitors system constantly; can see all processes
Privacy concerns:
- Always-on even when not playing
- Can access anything on PC
- Owned by Tencent (Chinese company)
- Security vulnerability if exploited
Riot defense: Necessary to catch sophisticated cheats; data not collected; can uninstall
Player choice: Accept Vanguard or don’t play Valorant
Industry trend: More games moving to kernel-level (Easy Anti-Cheat, BattlEye)
Linux problem: Vanguard incompatible; Linux users excluded
The controversy represents gaming’s choice: invasive anti-cheat for fair competition or privacy/security concerns.