Riot Games' online multiplayer gameValorantis already stunningly popular going off of its Twitch viewership. That’s despite the game being in closed beta, with a summer launch still months away. Yet someValorantplayers have noticed something about the game that’s raising some red flags. Players have noted thatValorantinstalls a system driver that loads each time someone turns on their computer and stays on permanently. The driver, which Riot insists is purely for anti-cheat measures, is being called too invasive by some.
The driver’s name is vgk.sys and Riot has confirmed that theValorantfile is run at system startup. It remains loaded while the PC is on, but isn’t constantly active. Riot doesn’t clarify everything that the driver does while players' PCs are on, but does generally describe its purpose. The driver is intended to track and preventcheating inValorant. It does this by both ensuring that a PC’s system components haven’t been modified prior toValorantlaunching and that a cheat doesn’t tamper with anti-cheat software inValorantas the game loads.
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Riot’s decision is that this driver needs to be on fulltime in order forValorantto be playable.Riot’s made the driver entirely uninstallable and it can be disabled manually. If the player chooses to do this, though,Valorantwon’t start.
While that may sound intimidating, Riot assures fans it has done its due diligence. Riot says several external research teams have reviewed the driver for flaws. It’s also designed to do as little as possible, letting the in-gameanti-cheatdo the bulk of the work. It doesn’t scan anything unlessValorantis running and it’s designed to take up as few system resources as possible.
That said, while Riot says the driver is key to anti-cheat efforts inValorant, that it’s secure and out of the way, that doesn’t change that it is there all the time.Valorantplayerswill have to extend their trust to Riot to playValorant. That may or may not be a deal-breaker for potential players.
Keep in mind thatValorantremains inclosed betaand things are subject to change. Riot says that right now it believes the “run-at-boot time driver” is the right choice, but if players make clear they aren’t having a good experience due to the driver then Riot will remove it and try something else. For the time being, though, there may be some further controversy.
