Joe Hixson

Does Vanguard physically damage hardware? No. Does this impact hardware or software in any ways unrelated to Riot’s games? No. The IOMMU security protection does not impact hardware, and would only impact the ability of players using DMA cheat devices to play our games. Are normal players affected? Players not using DMA cheat hardware are unaffected. Why target DMA cheats? DMA-based cheats are among the most sophisticated forms of cheating because they attempt to bypass traditional software detection by accessing memory directly through external hardware. I’m affected by this. How do I fix it? To continue cheating in other titles with this device, you may simply disable IOMMU in BIOS in the same place that you enabled it. Of course, you still won’t be able to play our games with these cheat devices enabled. Why did Riot joke about “bricking” PCs? We didn’t. The “paperweight” comment was about VALORANT cheat devices that no longer work in VALORANT. No hardware is being damaged and no other functionalities are impacted.

Well, that escalated quickly. There’s been a wave of claims by cheaters about Vanguard “bricking” their PCs, so let’s clear that up: Vanguard does not damage hardware or disable your devices. The photo we posted is a picture of cheat hardware devices that are sold explicitly for cheating in VALORANT (not normal PCs or PC components). Through our latest updates, Vanguard now makes those devices worthless for VAL, but does not in any way brick PCs or PC components or PC software. Our latest update enforces standard platform security features, like the Input-Output Memory Management Unit (IOMMU), on accounts identified as using Direct Memory Access (DMA) cheating devices. These protections are already part of modern systems and when enabled, they block DMA cheat devices (such as those shown in the photo) from accessing memory in downstream applications, like our games. If a cheat setup continues attempting to cheat after those protections are enabled, the system may generate hardware faults or instability. This is expected behavior under IOMMU when attempts are made to read protected memory. Disabling IOMMU allows the cheat device to function again, but IOMMU will still be required to play our games. This means the cheat device won’t work with our games, but your PC isn’t “bricked.” We would not, and cannot, impact your PC’s functionality in any other fashion. This functionality only applies to systems attempting to use DMA cheat devices, and players who are not using DMA-based cheat setups are not affected. We’ll keep investing in anti-cheat to protect competitive integrity, and we’ll keep being as transparent as possible about how those systems work.

teamfighting comes to 2XKO on tuesday. @TFT wanna duo?

this article really should have started ✨CREATORS, ITS HAPPENING!!!✨ We’ve been hard at work and are so excited to be opening applications for League, TFT, and VAL’s partner programs soon!

Regarding the Ashes of Creation / Riot rumors (shoutout /r/mmorpg), we looked at making an investment or even acquiring Intrepid a few years ago, but Riot decided not to move forward with discussions. The team there shared our goal of making the next great MMO — something we’re more committed to than ever — but combining efforts ultimately didn’t make sense for us.

quick look at 2XKO in 2026. stuff to know: we're adding another champion to our schedule, for a total of 6 new champs releasing this year. we're also adding a new fuse + a way to find duo partners in-game next month. lots to come, thanks for being on the journey with us

Games and music coming together. Seeing Masters Santiago and Miks on the cover of @RollingStoneAr is such a testament to how far VALORANT has come. Hard to overstate how cool this is. es.rollingstone.com/arg-tour-de-ca…

Started off #PAXEast the best way we know how... 👊

@00xRR @LifeAtRiot US internships usually open in September for the following summer (so summer 2027 internship applications will open in September 2026). Keep an eye on riotgames.com/en/student-int… and follow Riot on LinkedIn.

@LifeAtRiot Are any gonna open up in Canada or USA. I would love to work for riot and overbuff Yone🙏😋

We’re looking for software engineering interns to join our team in Sydney, Australia. These are full-time, paid positions working directly on our games. To apply or learn about internships at Riot: riot.com/internships

I just saw an insta reel of someone making stamps of Riftbound cards... including signed Ahri and Bard. because they 'look cute'. the scream I scrum.

Quite an honor to have @LeagueOfLegends included in this incredible group + up for consideration for the World Video Games Hall of Fame

¡Atención, gamer y fanáticos! 🎮🚇 Desde este sábado 28 de febrero llega la nueva tarjeta bip! edición especial VALORANT Masters. 📍 Podrás encontrarla en las siguientes estaciones: • Baquedano L5 • Tobalaba L1 • Vespucio Norte • Escuela Militar Es una edición limitada, así que si la quieres, mejor no esperar el respawn 😉

Bad time for computer programmers. Riot games laying off 25% of staff, I've heard. Pull your kids from coding class... Like learning Latin at this point. Put your kids on Claud/chat asap.

Think I can die happy thanks to @draggles

Concerned Rioters, players, and Twitter users: This is a fake Tweet. The information contained within is not accurate. Follow @UltimaShadowX for more quality satire. Thank you for reading.

DOUBLE VOTE DAY FOR #WPMOYChallenge   🔄 Repost to win an autographed @Kyrenwilliams23 football.

See examples in The Escapist and Destructoid most prominently but there are a bunch floating around.

Love putting out a video with this line: “We’re often asked if we’re going to make League of Legends 2 someday. And the answer to that has been, and remains no.” And still seeing the games twitter/journalism hot take machine scrambling to tell us why lol 2 is a dumb idea. Sigh.

5 minutes until we run it down in ARAM: Mayhem 👊 Join us➡️ discord.gg/leagueoflegends