Riot Games has taken a hard line against players who manipulate their competitive standing in Valorant and League of Legends. The studio banned 296,416 accounts for boosting, smurfing, and hitchhiking. This crackdown matters because it signals a shift in how the developer protects the integrity of its ranked ladders. Players who pay for rank boosts or share accounts now face immediate account termination.
Riot Games bans 296,416 Valorant accounts for rank manipulation
The enforcement effort relies on Vanguard, Riot’s kernel-level anti-cheat system. Earlier this summer, the company expanded Vanguard’s boosting detection capabilities from League of Legends to Valorant. The system identifies accounts that violate the terms of service through rank manipulation. Riot has been rolling out these bans continuously since the detection update went live.
The total number of banned accounts stands at 296,416. Riot describes these users as rent-a-rank customers who paid to have their ranks artificially inflated. The studio released a public service announcement detailing the scope of the operation. The announcement confirmed that the bans are a direct result of the expanded Vanguard detection tools.
We looked at the last Valorant update earlier while tracking similar balance and stability themes. The current enforcement action targets the same ecosystem of competitive integrity. Riot continues to use Vanguard to police both titles simultaneously. The bans apply to any account found engaging in the prohibited behaviors listed in the announcement.
Riot Games confirmed the ban count in its official statement. The studio stated that boosting, smurfing, and hitchhiking are all forms of cheating. Vanguard now actively monitors and penalizes these activities in both games. The 296,416 figure represents the confirmed total of accounts served as of the announcement date.
Source: DEXERTO
