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Unfortunately, Riot customer service told them that they cannot reverse the ban, which stemmed from the CPU HWID and has seemingly affected the user’s Valorant account. u/After-Cartoonist-196 said this wasn’t really a big issue for them but also added that “everything else from my system is now also on the blacklist.”
This story has picked up steam on X, which led to Riot Games anti-cheat specialist Phillip Koskinas saying that hardware bans only last for a maximum of four months and that they’re game-specific. Customer support would also tell customers how much time they have left on their ban, and that the anti-cheat system only matches one component on the denylist, not all the parts of the offending player’s gaming PC.
I couldn't find his ticket, but this is pretty unlikely. Our hw bans only last 4 months maximum, they're game-specific, and support tells you the time remaining on the ban when you write in.We also don't add "everything else" onto the denylist when we match one component. October 2, 2026
Even though this story might seem unique, other titles and developers also use HWID bans, and incidents like these have reportedly affected other players, too. Ban conditions also vary by developer, too. Easy Anti-Cheat will ban cheaters and users with affected hardware across all the games that use it, while BattleEye enforces permanent global bans. While Vanguard requires Secure Boot and TPM 2.0, Ricochet, which Call of Duty uses, is even stricter as it contacts Microsoft ’s servers to confirm that the system remains untampered.
Anti-cheat systems have become controversial recently, especially as some players complained that they’re too intrusive. Others also said that they were too resource-intensive, especially for some systems with an always-on requirement . One Valorant anti-cheat update even went so far as to soft-brick purpose-built cheating hardware , which alarmed a few who thought that the gaming company was killing hardware. However, gamers who are tired of cheaters, trolls, and griefers would agree that anti-cheat systems have become crucial to make online games playable.
How to buy second-hand PC hardware without getting scammed
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/buying-used-cpus-can-expose-users-to-existing-bans-from-anti-cheat-engines-some-anti-cheat-engines-enforce-permanent-bans-while-others-have-an-expiration-date#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.