Riot says "congrats on your $6k paperweights" as new Valorant anti-cheat update reportedly bricks the PCs of many cheaters

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If you've been cheating in Valorant and your hardware remains functional, I'd strongly recommend disabling whatever tools you may be using. The latest anti-cheat update has introduced mechanisms that are reportedly bricking people's PCs, and Riot Games is not sympathetic in the least.

Valorant's brand of cheat prevention, known as Vanguard, has been somewhat contentious since the FPS launched in 2020. Employing kernel-level software - essentially going straight for the fundamental aspects of your operating system - it's a headache to work around for those who use dishonest tactics. Occasionally, players who aren't guilty of cheating have gotten caught in the crossfire, but that's a trade-off Riot seems content with making.

The current front is particularly ruthless, as according to a report from ogisada, a reporter specializing in this area, it's ruining people's machines. "VGK suddenly triggered an IOMMU restart warning in-game," they say on Twitter, "after which the DMA firmware becomes completely unusable, even without the game running or after uninstalling Vanguard. Only fix is a full OS reinstall."

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congrats to the owners of a brand new $6k paperweight https://t.co/3rjZVQntrc pic.twitter.com/fS3JC0FL0pMay 21, 2026

Basically, not only does the game become unplayable, but your PC does too. You need to wipe everything and reinstall your operating system from scratch if Vanguard is activated. Yowch. He includes screenshots of the dialog boxes people are seeing as a result.

This has caused some commotion, prompting Riot to comment on the issue. "Congrats to the owners of a brand new $6k paperweight," the company's official Twitter account says. Well, no confusion over that stance, is there?

There's a double-edged sword here, in that while Vanguard is effective, it's invasive. It digs right down into the core of your PC, and you have no choice about that if you want to play the game. So, while it's preventative, it's also bullish and could potentially harm the machines of honest players. That said, we can all enjoy a Nelson Muntz-style chuckle at the cheaters who've had their days ruined because they didn't want to pick a fair fight.

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Anthony McGlynnContributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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