A day we expected to come but now Riot Games have formally announced that their Vanguard kernel-level anti-cheat is coming to League of Legends, and so it will make it unplayable on Linux. This is the same tech they use in VALORANT, which is also unplayable on Linux due to it.
This news was confirmed in their recent developer video below at about 12:43, mentioning it will happen in either late February or early March:
Direct Link
Speaking on Reddit, one of their team mentioned "We'll get some more info about Linux for you all soon, it's not something i know the answer to off the top of my head and I want to make sure I talk with the team and get you the right info.", and in a previous comment they mentioned Vanguard won't be used in the macOS version.
However, a different Riot staff member seemed to make it clear Linux support won't be happening in reply to a user asking about playing it in Wine: "No unfortunately not. From a security point of view supporting WINE would be like having a bank vault at the top of Nakatomi Tower then installing a doggy door in it.".
Considering that to play it on Linux you need to run the Windows version through Wine, there's no way they're going to roll out Vanguard into the Windows client and just let Linux get off without it. So I fully expect it to become unplayable in the next couple of months.
Seems like it's time for League of Legends players on Linux to finally swap over to Valve's Dota 2, which has full Native Linux support.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: BlackBloodRumI have to ask, how do people justify allowing a video game absolute total control over their computer at the kernel-level?In addition to what's already been said by LoudTechie and damarrin above, there are also folks who'll knowingly put up with it in the hopes of making a competitive career out of it. I was in that scene once, albeit with some different (non-PC) games, and it's really quite shocking what some folks will tolerate and sacrifice in the hope of brief fame for being good at a video game.
How does one justify that is a good thing to have? It is a rootkit.
Regardless if you use Windows, Linux or the other one it just sounds like a bad idea. I can't help but feel the reason these companies won't do this for Linux is simple: They know most Linux users would reject it, and refuse to use the game anyway.
But it still begs the question, why are some people accepting of this?
BlackBloodRum Jan 10
Can you really justify that level of access just for a game?
ElamanOpiskelija Jan 10
Quoting: BlackBloodRumDo they not realise that this software has a high enough level of access to do any number of activities on their computer, and hide it from the OS and the user? For example, hide a running process from "Task manager" on Windows, and continue running even after they close the game?
Can you really justify that level of access just for a game?
Course they can. They do. They're not techies, they just want to play games and write the odd email, maybe check their socials (although that's probably more phone-based these days). Besides, it's the norm on Windows - everything gets full control. AV software, for example. There are still hundreds of articles out there that suggest that if you're having a problem with a given piece of software, two common troubleshooting tips are a) turn off your AV and/or firewall and b) run it as root.
It's a different culture, which makes sense, because it's a different audience.
I'll bet there are mechanics out there who walk past my car while I'm sitting at a set of lights and can critic all sorts of stuff I do with it - poor tire wear, dirty interior, crass stickers, slipping fan belt, revving too high whatever. I don't care. I'm not a car person. I don't give a single shit about the state of my car. But I care deeply about the tech I use.
Quoting: BlackBloodRumBut it still begs the question, why are some people accepting of this?
Because the "average player" is an illiterate pig that would accept whatever, even selling their mother just so they can keep playing their chosen videogame. It's come to that. The average player has no principles at all.
I know there are gamers who are not like that, but the average Joe is a mindless drone that won't bother about anything, they want to play and they'll never realize the price they are paying to play.
Oh well, a game to keep avoiding, any anticheat at kernel level is a no-go for me.
Quoting: BelaptirBecause the "average player" is an illiterate pig that would accept whatever, even selling their mother just so they can keep playing their chosen videogame. It's come to that. The average player has no principles at all.
I'm really not digging the sweeping generalisation here, dude. Plenty of absolutely lovely people just don't care about computers, but certainly do want to play games with their mates. You and I don't know what "the average Joe" is, but we clearly have different ideas of what they look like.
Illiterate pigs happy to sell their mothers? No principles? Jesus. C'mon.
Last edited by scaine on 10 January 2024 at 4:03 pm UTC
Quoting: martinligabue"macOS version", ah yes, let's make an entire version, without the "good" anticheat on a platform near the 1.5% of the share, and not for one near 2%
Money talks
Quoting: dubigrasuHow good is Vanguard compared with other AC software out there? Is that efficient on Valorant?
It's bad, I've played.
No matter the anticheat used, people will ALWAYS find a way past it and they already have in Valorant. What shitty AC software like this does is add more code to the black box for hackers to exploit
eridanired123 Jan 10
Quoting: BlackBloodRumDo they not realize that this software has a high enough level of access to do any number of activities on their computer, and hide it from the OS and the user? For example, hide a running process from “Task manager” on Windows, and continue running even after they close the game?
Can you really justify that level of access just for a game?
Ignorance is bliss.
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