Riot Games offers up to $100,000 for holes in anti-cheat system of Valorant

By Aaron Mamiit April 19, 2020

Riot Games is offering up to $100,000 to hackers who can find vulnerabilities in Vanguard, the anti-cheat system that was introduced for hero-shooter Valorant.

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Bug bounty for Vanguard
Valorant to roll out in summer 2020

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Vanguard has already raised controversy because it is automatically installed on computers after downloading Valorant, and it runs with heightened privileges. In a blog post, Riot Games explained that it was necessary to implement the system in such a manner to better protect players against potential cheaters.

Valorant will not run on a computer that does not have Vanguard, which launches as soon as players turn on their PCs. According to Riot Games, this is to make sure that there is no opportunity to load cheats before starting the game.

Riot Games, however, claimed that Vanguard will not collect and process any personal information other than what is already currently used by the anti-cheat solution in place for League of Legends.

“Riot’s committed to achieving the highest competitive integrity in our games. We want you to play in a world where you never have to doubt your abilities or your opponent’s,” the developer said in its philosophy behind Vanguard.

Bug bounty for Vanguard

Riot Games believes that Vanguard will protect players from cheaters, and that the high privileges that the system requires will not be exploited by hackers. To support this goal, the developer rolled out new rewards in its bug bounty program on HackerOne that are specifically for Vanguard.

“We want players to continue to play our games with peace of mind, and we’re putting our money where our mouth is,” said Riot Games. The bug bounties for Vanguard range from $25,000 to $100,000, with the highest reward for the discovery of a network attack that does not require user interaction with code execution on the kernel level.

Riot Games said that it has awarded nearly $2 million in bounties to security researchers over the past six years of the program on HackerOne, showing its commitment to player security and privacy.

Valorant to roll out in summer 2020

Valorant is currently in closed beta, with Riot Games planning to release the game this summer. There is currently no specific release date, but the developer is already laying down the foundation for the hero shooter’s esports scene.

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Legends of Runeterra 2023 road map outlined by Riot Games

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Riot Games has laid out its plans to revitalize its collectible League of Legends card game, Legends of Runeterra, in 2023. The backbone of the road map is a recurring three-month release cycle that rotates through the releases of Expansions, Live Balance Patches, and Variety Sets.
Each quarter of the 2023 road map will feature an Expansion, which Riot Games says will primarily focus on new champions and game mechanics. As such, these will be the biggest updates of the year, with Riot Games teasing that brand-new and returning champions are coming alongside a reworking of PvP. The month after an Expansion drops, players can expect a big Live Balance Patch, which Riot Games describes as "dedicated spaces where we’ll be focused on addressing anything that may have room for improvement."

After releasing an Expansion and making any needed adjustments with the big Live Balance Path, Riot Games will conclude the cycle with the release of a Variety Set, which is the developers say are akin to a "quarterly booster pack or a mini-expansion" that contains new non-Champion cards, as well as even more balance updates. After that, the cycle will start anew, ensuring that Legends of Runeterra will get a notable update every month for the rest of 2023.
On top of that cycle, Riot Games also shared a higher-level road map outlining what players can expect in 2023. The developers are promising that new Legends of Runeterra champions and items, relic balance updates, a competitive PvP revamp, and new play formats are coming very soon. After that, new achievements, ways to get legacy content, and monthly Path of Champions adventures will be part of future updates. Riot Games is also working to add ways to play with international players and support player-hosted tournaments, although those updates are further out.
Regardless, it looks like 2023 is going to be a busy year for Legends of Runeterra, and Riot Games is being pretty clear about how it's rolling everything out. Legends of Runeterra is available for PC, iOS, and Android; Xbox Game Pass subscribers can get some special bonuses by syncing their accounts, too.

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Riot Games Xbox Game Pass benefits: rewards in League of Legends, and more

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Riot Games' League of Legends, Valorant, Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift are some of the most popular multiplayer games out there. Now, they are all a part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription. As those games are all free-to-play, the real benefit of this partnership between Microsoft and Riot Games is that Xbox Game Pass subscribers will receive lots of in-game bonuses that’ll save time and money.
As this partnership affects four games, each of which has its own rewards, it can be tough to fully digest all the benefits one can get in Riot Games' catalog of titles with an Xbox Game Pass subscription. To help, we’re breaking down all of the in-game bonuses players can see in League of Legends, Valorant, Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift after doing so.
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What are the League of Legends Xbox Game Pass benefits?

Being an Xbox Game Pass subscriber will save League of Legends players a lot of money as they'll immediately have access to all 162 Champions in the game. From Vi to K'Sante, you will no longer be limited when it comes to which League of Legends champion to use. Riot Games confirmed that this will apply to all future champions as well. While that alone is a massive boon for Xbox Game Pass subscribers that play League of Legends, connecting the accounts will also net players a 20% XP Boost as well as a Masterwork Chest and Key.
What are the Valorant Xbox Game Pass benefits?

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Valorant will record your voice chats in an attempt to curb toxic behavior

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Riot Games will begin monitoring "North American/English-only" voice communications in Valorant beginning July 13 as it expands its effort to reduce toxicity and player harassment in the popular first-person shooter.

Riot laid the foundation for this move back in April 2021 when it made an update to its privacy policy with new terms that would allow it to “record and potentially evaluate voice data when using Riot-owned voice comms channels." However, for now, the company says that it won't be using these voice evaluations to assess any behavior reports, promising that it's simply a background launch designed to aid it in training language models as it continues to perfect the technology. Players should expect a beta launch sometime later in the year.