Valorant has recently been in the news – for the wrong reasons. Apparently, Riot has been using a custom in-house anti-cheat solution for protecting the game against cheaters. The problem is that the anti-cheat runs since the computer starts, and runs at the kernel level. If you’re not a geek, an application running at the kernel level means that the application has the same permissions as the operating system does. This means unparalleled access to system resources, including all programs running in the background. This is frightening for many since that means it can access a lot of information being stored on the computer. Since Valorant’s developer Riot Games is owned by Tencent Games, a company funded by the Communist Party of China. – fuelling rumors that Riot is mining information on player devices to sell to the CCP.
In other news, it has been seen that cheat developers interested in making cheats for Valorant have been inspiring some of the comments behind the scenes. A screenshot from a cheat developer has been revealed, where some users have been seen instigating comments on Reddit against the anti-cheat.
It is common knowledge that if Valorant’s anti-cheat is a success, their business would receive a hit, so the best way is to force the developers to change their decision regarding an intrusive anti-cheat. The best people to manipulate are the ones that won’t get too emotionally attached to the game, so naturally subreddits like r/pcgaming (full of people who aren’t heavily invested into multiplayer gaming) have been targeted.
The concerns about data mining have not been verified yet. However, the devs should come clear on the exact reason a root level implementation is necessary. Clearing the concern of the players should help stop the spread of unnecessary rumors (many of which will be spread with malicious intent).