All games need to follow Riot’s new solution to cheating crisis in Valorant

As a seasoned gamer who’s seen more than a fair share of hackers ruining my ranked matches, I can wholeheartedly say that Riot’s Ranked Rollback system is a godsend. It’s like they’ve finally figured out how to remove the chewing gum from the sole of my gaming shoe – a problem that’s been sticking for far too long.


Riot Games is setting up a mechanism that restores your Elo score and prevents cheaters from spoiling your Valorant competitive matches. It’s high time other multiplayer games adopted similar measures.

If you’re a frequent competitor in any game, you’re likely familiar with this predicament. You join a competitive match only to have a teammate accuse another player in the lobby of cheating. The frustrating aspect is that they’re causing chaos within your team, and unfortunately, there’s little you can do but accept defeat.

A day after reporting them, you receive a notification that they’ve been banned. However, this message doesn’t restore your lost ranking points, and despite your best efforts, you were destined to lose. What remains is a lingering bitter taste.

In an unexpected announcement, Riot revealed in their developer’s update that they are developing a novel anti-cheat mechanism known as Ranked Rollback. This system aims to counter cheating by automatically reversing the ranking points lost due to a match where a cheater was detected, post-game.

To put it simply, this is revolutionary.

All games need to follow Riot’s new solution to cheating crisis in Valorant

In some popular games like Valorant, Overwatch 2, and Counter-Strike 2, the best strategy for teams facing a hacker might be to end the match in a tie instead of risking a loss of ELO points. This tactic is common due to the round-based nature of these games.

One issue worth noting is that not all games have the ability to be drawn. Take Overwatch 2 for instance; it allows you to draw in certain game modes, but others like Clash and Flashpoint don’t. Instead, these modes conclude once a victor has been decided.

In games like League of Legends and Apex Legends, the competition continues until a single team emerges victorious.

To put it simply, the challenging aspect when trying to draw is that every participant, apart from the hacker, must be in agreement. A cheater, especially if partnered with another player, will rarely agree to a draw.

In high-ranked matches, this behavior is rarely seen because everyone is acquainted with each other, and nobody wishes to be recognized as someone lenient towards cheaters.

In simpler terms, creating drawings using this method can be quite laborious, unsustainable, and potentially frustrating due to its slow pace. This is why the concept of Ranked Rollback holds significant importance as it addresses these issues.

Even if a game’s anti-cheat system is highly effective, it can’t always prevent hackers from causing harm to games or lobbies before they’re detected. A notification about a banned player serves more as a form of comfort rather than an indication that the damage has been reversed.

There’s nothing better than having the knowledge that no matter how bad of a hacker you’ve queued into, they won’t ruin your elo. Of course, the system as described isn’t airtight just yet. Leavers and throwers can still ruin the ranked experience and it’s unclear how Riot will deal with them.

Nevertheless, the implementation of Ranked Rollback in Valorant marks progress towards a beneficial trend within gaming, prompting other games to consider adopting a comparable feature.

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2024-09-23 09:18