As Competitive Gaming Grows, So Does the Industry of Cheating — and the Battle Against It
Cheating in video games is as old as the medium itself. What once was a pastime for hobbyists reverse-engineering games for fun or fame has evolved into a thriving underground industry. With the rise of professional and competitive gaming, cheat development has become a lucrative business, offering paying players unfair advantages in high-stakes online matches.
In response, game developers have ramped up their efforts to detect, deter, and punish cheaters. Modern anti-cheat teams don’t just hand out bans — they also work to disable cheat software and pursue those who create it. Increasingly, companies are deploying powerful tools like kernel-level anti-cheat systems. These tools run with the highest permissions on a user’s machine, enabling deep monitoring capabilities that are controversial but highly effective.
One of the most recognized systems in this space is Vanguard, Riot Games’ kernel-level anti-cheat tool used in titles like League of Legends and Valorant. “Vanguard forces cheats to be visible,” explained Phillip Koskinas, Riot’s director of anti-cheat. Describing himself as an “anti-cheat artisan,” Koskinas leads a dedicated team whose mission is singular: eliminate cheaters from Riot’s games.
Their efforts are showing results. According to Riot, less than 1% of all ranked Valorant matches globally now include cheaters — a significant improvement credited to Vanguard and its daily banning of thousands of offenders.
In a conversation with TechCrunch, Koskinas outlined Riot’s multifaceted approach: harnessing Windows security features, using hardware fingerprinting to block repeat offenders, infiltrating cheat-developing communities, and employing psychological tactics to sow distrust and discredit among cheaters.
The war on cheating in games is far from over, but with increasingly sophisticated tools and relentless anti-cheat teams, developers are gaining the upper hand.
