Summary

• Valorant is implementing ranked rollbacks to combat hackers, reversing progress or rank if a match is affected by cheaters.
• These new measures aim to penalize cheaters and ensure fair play for all Valorant players.
• Players on the same team as hackers will retain their rank rating, preventing unfair losses.

Valorant is taking decisive action against the recent surge in hackers by introducing ranked rollbacks. This new system is designed to reverse a player's progress or rank if their match is impacted by cheating. Riot Games' head of anti-cheat, Phillip Koskinas, has emphasized the studio's enhanced capabilities to combat cheaters, stating on Twitter that Riot can now "hit so much harder."

Cheating remains a pervasive issue across many online games, with companies constantly developing new strategies to curb it. Despite Valorant's reputation for having one of the best anti-cheat systems, a recent increase in hacking has disrupted player experiences. In response, Riot Games is implementing stricter measures to penalize those who cheat.

Koskinas shared a chart illustrating the number of cheaters banned by Riot's Vanguard system in January, highlighting a peak on January 13. As part of their ongoing efforts, Riot Games will soon roll out ranked rollbacks. This means if a match is lost due to cheating, the affected players' ranks will be reset.

Riot Games' Future Valorant Bans Will Include Ranked Rollbacks

A player raised concerns about the fairness of winning a match with a cheater on their team, noting the injustice to both the opposing team and those unwittingly paired with hackers. Koskinas clarified that players on the same team as a hacker will retain their rank rating, while the opposing team will have theirs restored. He acknowledged that this approach might lead to inflation in ranks but expressed confidence in its overall effectiveness.

Valorant's Vanguard system, which operates at a kernel-level security clearance on PCs, has been highly effective in detecting and banning cheaters. Its success has inspired other games, such as Call of Duty, to implement similar anti-cheat measures. Despite these efforts, cheaters continue to find new ways to infiltrate games.

Valorant has already banned thousands of players, demonstrating Riot Games' commitment to eradicating cheating. The introduction of ranked rollbacks is a promising step towards reducing the impact of hackers in ranked matches. Only time will tell if this new technique will prove effective in maintaining the integrity of the game.