Vanguard has finally arrived in League of Legends<\/em>, and nearly immediately the online community has been awash with players claiming their computers have been \u201cbricked\u201d by the kernel-level program and its activity.<\/p>
The claims\u2060, which were mainly shared on X (formerly Twitter)<\/a> but also popped up<\/a> <\/a>across Reddit and Facebook<\/a>, range from Vanguard preventing startup programs from firing correctly to other programs crashing when the anti-cheat software loads, and some have even suggested Riot\u2019s kernel program has been \u201ctampering with unrelated files.\u201d Others simply dubbed it \u201cmalware\u201d and declared they would be quitting League<\/em><\/a> <\/em>until the program stopped breaking PCs.<\/p>
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One high-profile example came from famed League<\/em> creator LS, who reported both his computers breaking after Vanguard was installed<\/a> on May 1. He said he fixed one by taking out the CMOS battery and forcing BIOS access, but suggested his other computer is \u201cstill bricked.\u201d<\/p>
While Riot has yet to address any of the early backlash directly, tech staff have been active in the \u201cPatch 14.9 Bug Megathread\u201d on \/r\/LeagueOfLegends<\/a>. One Riot reply suggested some of today\u2019s alleged issues \u201cwouldn\u2019t be related to Vanguard\u201d<\/a> and offered up a simpler solution\u2060\u2014restart impacted devices and run PC troubleshooting.<\/p>
The same Riot staffer also suggested any aggrieved players could upload Riot Vanguard logs to the League <\/em>support page<\/a> to help \u201cisolate what the issue is.\u201d All the Reddit comments from that Rioter have since been removed.<\/p>
Today\u2019s Vanguard launch comes after the kernel program was originally delayed<\/a>. The anti-cheat software, which has been running in VALORANT <\/em>since the tactical shooter debuted in 2020<\/a>, is designed to detect third-party programs running on a user\u2019s PC<\/a> and ban the offending player. The aim is to maintain competitive integrity, with the tradeoff being Vanguard is always running.<\/p>
Dot Esports has contacted Riot for a response to today\u2019s claims.<\/p>
Update May 2, 9:49pm CT<\/strong>: Riot has publicly responded to Vanguard complaints<\/a> after Dot’s request for comment, suggesting in a lengthy Reddit post<\/a> that just 0.3 percent of League<\/em> players have reported issues\u2060. None of those issues, the devs added, were related to PCs “bricking” after the update.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
