Riot expands Vanguard Anti-Boost in VALORANT and begins punishing boosters

Riot expands Vanguard Anti-Boost in VALORANT and begins punishing boosters

Riot Games has expanded its Vanguard Anti-Boost system in VALORANT as part of a broader effort to combat account boosting and ranked manipulation.

The system was originally introduced in League of Legends before being brought to VALORANT during the summer.

Anti-Boost identifies situations where a higher-skilled player logs into another person's account and earns a significant portion of its ranking progress.

It can also identify players who intentionally queue with boosters or smurfs to artificially increase their own rank.

Riot reverses boosted progress

When Riot confirms a violation, ranking points and rewards gained through boosting can be removed.

The affected account can also be returned to its previous rank and temporarily suspended.

Repeated violations can result in longer suspensions, while purchased accounts or profiles intentionally deranked for boosting may receive permanent bans.

Punishments can also extend to the main accounts of boosters and players who regularly participate alongside them.

Riot stated that 296,416 accounts across VALORANT and League of Legends have been punished for ranking manipulation since the end of last year.

The company plans to continue expanding Anti-Boost and increase the number of manipulated results that are reversed.

Players who create and level their own additional accounts are not automatically targeted by the system. Riot instead focuses on account sharing, purchased accounts, deliberate deranking, and organized boosting.