League of Legends and Valorant Players Being Forced to Run Closed Source Low-Level Software.
Vanguard, the controversial anti-cheat software initially attached to Valorant, is now also coming to League of Legends.
Summary:
The article discusses Riot Games' requirement for players to install their Vanguard anti-cheat software, which runs at the kernel level, in order to play their games such as League of Legends and Valorant. The software aims to combat cheating by scanning for known vulnerabilities and blocking them, as well as monitoring for suspicious activity while the game is being played. However, the use of kernel-level software raises concerns about privacy and security, as it grants the company complete access to users' devices.
The article highlights that Riot Games is owned by Tencent, a Chinese tech giant that has been involved in censorship and surveillance activities in China. This raises concerns that Vanguard could potentially be used for similar purposes, such as monitoring players' activity and restricting free speech in-game.
Ultimately, the decision to install Vanguard rests with players, but the article urges caution and encourages players to consider the potential risks and implications before doing so.
Oh, so the company which changed groovy Zilean into a cranked out meth head to please the CCP, because they're legally obligated to serve them, now wants kernel level access to every computer playing the most popular PVP game?
Fuck everything about that. China's openly stated goal is world domination and they control every facet of their citizen's lives, AND STILL HAVE MORE VIDEOGAME CHEATERS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE!
It is a genuine concern though. Certain Chinese laws do state that if the government wants, companies like tencent must hand over user data, including the data of foreign users outside their jurisdiction. Riot is owned by Tencent, with a CEO that is a card-carrying supporter of the CCP.
Personally, while I think the developers at Riot didn't intend for it to be a data-collection tool, the level of access it has could certainly be used as such if they wanted.