Valorant dev shuts down cheaters looking to get unbanned at launch

Olivia Richman Published 07/06/2020

A lot of cheaters in the Valorant community were quite upset when they realized they were still banned after the game’s official release on June 2.

A lot of Valorant developers were excited to tell hackers that they weren’t welcome in Riot’s new FPS, telling them on Twitter that they didn’t deserve a second chance.

Sorry, no second chance for cheaters. pic.twitter.com/iNTy1cVSzA
— nicolo (@niiicolo) June 2, 2020

While most gamers agreed that cheaters shouldn’t be able to play Valorant, some expressed pity for the younger hackers who may have “learned their lesson” already. Others also questioned Valorant’s choice to ban entire computers who were caught with their anti-cheat detection software, Vanguard. HWID bans are quite harsh, since cheaters can’t simply set up a new account to get around it.

Valorant anti-cheat designer, Phillip Koskinas, decided to clear up some things about hardware bans on Twitter.

Valorant plans to unban some cheaters after all

Koskinas’ long discussion on hardware bans began with a disclaimer that being banned from Valorant is supposed to be a consequence, not an inconvenience, hence why players can’t just make another account and continue playing.

1) A ban for cheating in VALORANT is intended to prevent a cheater from playing VALORANT. If you could just make another account, that wouldn’t really be a consequence, it’d just be an inconvenience.
— Phillip Koskinas (@mirageopenguins) June 5, 2020

“Hardware bans are deliberately opaque. Just like magic, you’re not meant to understand how the technology works, and just like all anti-cheat, it’ll still be circumvented eventually. There’s no need to speed that up by being loud about it,” Koskinas continued.

He explained that a third of the closed beta bans were released upon Valorant’s launch. This included lighter offenses from accounts with an “otherwise stellar track record.”

“If you find yourself still unable to play the game, please do not panic, you are just experiencing what punishment feels like,” he noted.

Koskinas also explained that some “well-intentioned agents” had told some cheaters they’d be unbanned upon Valorant’s release, but that it actually wasn’t true. He added that screenshots of these conversations won’t suddenly result in cheaters having access to the game again.

While his tone was overall harsh and unrelenting to Valorant hackers, he did admit that some cheaters will be unbanned eventually.

5) We will periodically unban additional sets of hardware based on the severity of the original offense and our confidence in the iterative Vanguard product, but we are not unbanning more at this time.
— Phillip Koskinas (@mirageopenguins) June 5, 2020

Meanwhile, Koskinas warned Valorant players to hold back from messaging Riot employees about being banned from the game. Apparently, he already warned his co-workers that cheaters will lie to get their accounts back.

“Don’t DM random Rioters your sob stories. Their hearts still pump warm blood, and it breaks what’s left of mine to explain that cheaters can cheat at the truth. You don’t get innocent ears, you get mine, and they’re filled with so much pitch, I can barely hear your screams,” Koskinas stated.

For now, most cheaters are still hardware banned from Valorant. While there’s been a few bumps in the road for Vanguard, it seems to overall be doing its job properly. Anyone expecting to get away with wall hacks and aimbots should think again.

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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