Riot hires anti-cheat 'vigilante' to help clean up Valorant

Olivia Richman Published 16/09/2020

Valorant developers have always been serious about catching hackers and cheaters but Riot is making a surprising move in those efforts.

Mohamed “GamerDoc” Al-Sharif announced that he was hired as part of the developer’s anti-cheat team. 

GamerDoc is well known for his cheat hunting in the gaming community. The 24-year-old was catching cheaters in Overwatch and Valorant before being hired by Riot, maintaining Discord channels dedicated to getting cheaters removed from the games. As he continued to hunt cheaters and report them to Riot and Blizzard, gaming companies began to take his work extremely seriously. 

“The entire Vanguard team is filled with the same passion as me. I really love their work and fight against cheaters, and I am honored to be part of that team,” GamerDoc said. “I will work extremely hard to make sure I protect all the players and make sure we protect the competitive integrity of Riot’s titles.”

While Riot hasn’t announced the hire officially, anonymous employees confirmed the move with Vice. 

In a TwitLonger, GamerDoc became very emotional about the opportunity to catch cheaters officially. He called it a “second chance at life,” noting that he was almost homeless four months ago. GamerDoc admitted he would often borrow WiFi from restaurants, where he’d “stay warm” and continue his work catching cheaters. 

“I fled from a country of war. I came here for a sense of security and comfort. I am not well educated I didn’t pass my exams since I came pretty late to school and I had a short attention span, or I couldn’t understand the teachers. I am happy with who I am and I hope to continue to change for the better and push through new challenges,” GamerDoc said. 

Thanks to Riot, he’s now working his “dream job.” Now, GamerDoc is able to be financially stable and no longer worry about rent or food. GamerDoc told his followers to never “let demons win” and insisted there’s “always a light at the end of the tunnel.” 

During his time as a vigilante, GamerDoc estimated that his group of volunteers caught almost 70,000 cheaters across Overwatch and Valorant. GamerDoc lurks on cheaters’ forums and Discord channels to “gather intelligence.” He would sometimes even interact with cheat developers and sellers, getting them to provide him the cheat. He would then bring what he found to Blizzard and Riot. 

“The information people like GamerDoc provides helps us accelerate our anti-cheat development and ultimately gets cheaters out of the game faster,” Paul Chamberlain, Riot’s former anti-cheat lead, told Motherboard last month. 

GamerDoc’s Discord channels, including Overwatch Police Department and Valorant Police Department, will continue to run even though GamerDoc has moved onto more official cheater-hunting efforts. 

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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