Riot will now hardware ban toxic players in Valorant

Valorant, like any multiplayer game, has a toxicity problem. But the great news is that Riot Games is taking it seriously with the newly announced hardware ban.

In light of recent events, including Andrew Tate’s criticism for defending toxicity in Valorant, Riot has announced even more severe punishment for trolls and malicious actors. The short clip of a woman getting threats in the game triggered a whole discourse around “just muting” toxic players. However, Valorant studio head Anna Donlon doesn’t think it’s a solution.

“Muting is a tool, it’s not there to justify bad behaviors,” Anna Donlon said.

The developer explained that the current system in Valorant, no matter how sturdy, is not enough. In response, Riot Games has launched a plan that includes stricter punishment for the “worst offenders.”

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Riot asks toxic players to “play something else,” introduces hardware ban

Explaining the state of player behavior, the studio head confirmed that Riot Games will now ban toxic players permanently from the game. Repeat offenders reported for sexual threats and bodily damage will be punished with a hardware ban. This means you will have no access to Valorant unless you create a new account and buy a new computer.

“We can’t stop them [toxic players] from saying something awful. I wish we could, but I can’t stop that part. What we can do is help escort them out of our game,” she said.

Here’s everything that the developer announced for the next 30 days:

• Faster penalties for severe behavior
• New penalties for harmful behavior, including hardware bans
• Increased support for manual reports
• Voice evaluation for more regions by the end of the year

The video has been well received by the community, lauding Anna for addressing the most pressing issue in Valorant and working on a fix.

How to manually report a toxic player in Valorant  

Here’s how to report a player through Valorant support:

• Go to the Riot Games website here
• Sign in with your Valorant account
• Click on the “Choose a request type” drop-down
• From the options, select “Report a player”
• Fill out the details and click on the red “Submit” icon.