In the 2024 season, Riot Games made a bold decision to implement the anti-cheat system Vanguard in League of Legends. This system, developed by Riot Games and previously implemented in VALORANT, has proven to be extremely effective. This is a strong move by Riot as they recognize the increasing cheating, tool/hack issues occurring in their beloved game.
However, the application of Vanguard in League of Legends has brought Riot Games a lot of trouble. Recently, this system spoiled the weekend for many players when Vanguard encountered errors, preventing League of Legends from running. This resulted in significant damage for Riot Games, particularly in terms of player experience.
Despite this, instead of criticizing, many players sent their “thanks” to Riot Games. Some players even drew a “conspiracy theory” suggesting that this was Riot’s way of helping their players reduce their “gaming addiction” and engage in other activities. Some joked that this is a top-notch marketing “strategy” by Riot, as they don’t need to advertise much yet Vanguard has become such a hot topic.
Of course, the above opinions from the gaming community are merely conspiracy theories. It would be unreasonable for Riot Games to intentionally cause their product to malfunction (in this case, Vanguard) as it could lead to significant backlash from players. Moreover, this could risk a sharp decline in revenue from selling skins, accessories, and more related to League of Legends and VALORANT. Clearly, Riot has no reason to “shoot themselves in the foot” like that.
It should be noted that there are currently too many attractive games with diverse genres. Therefore, Riot Games would never intentionally degrade their products and lose players to other games. Perhaps Vanguard is truly experiencing a serious issue beyond Riot’s control.
We hope that Riot Games will soon implement the necessary solutions to address the situation. Otherwise, player trust in their products will severely decline, potentially leading to extremely unpredictable consequences for Riot Games.