The expected VALORANT and LoL announcement from Riot Games has arrived!

[Zhex_]

Lines of code were found in the VALORANT source files indicating that the game can take screenshots from the computer. Well what does it mean?

Riot Games, known as the developer of VALORANT and League of Legends (LoL) games, is among the largest gaming companies. In this context, the company is found reliable by the majority of players. However, a recent development seems to shake this trust.

Riot Games taking screenshots from VALORANT players without their knowledge?

A user named "wait" on Twitter, or X as it is now known, found lines of code in the VALORANT source files that indicate that the game can take screenshots from the computer. The post in which he shared this became a topic of discussion on social media.

Allegedly, VALORANT can also access other applications while it is open. According to this claim, it is stated that it can take screenshots of calls made in private messaging applications such as Discord, WhatsApp and Google Chrome or other browsers.



Moreover, it is said that it is not limited to just these applications. This means that VALORANT can also take screenshots from the desktop or other applications. Of course, the important part is that these images are sent to Riot Games servers.

In fact, such lines of code already exist in many games where cheats are common. Therefore, we should not be surprised by this. However, the striking point here is the claim that VALORANT can take screenshots not only from in-game but also from applications outside the game.

This claim was talked about a lot on social media. Some players have expressed concern that the screenshotted source codes may be in the LoL game, not just VALORANT.

Announcement from Riot Games

Riot Games made a statement on the subject. Accordingly, the company explained that only a picture of the game client (full screen) and the area covered by the game client (windowed/unlimited) is taken, but a screenshot of your entire computer or multiple monitors is not taken.

So what do you think about this issue? You can share your opinions with us in the Comments section below.

Attached Thumbnails

 

[operatedprune32]

Great post, thank you for keeping the community informed. Personally, I think this isn't the right approach from Riot Games. This clearly is a violation of privacy to some extent as they're not only screenshotting your game but also other applications running in the background. I don't believe an anticheat should have access to freely observe and monitor any application on your device for the purpose of "protecting the community" or for any purpose in that matter. This takes it too far, regardless if the game is full of cheaters or not. Not to mention the fact they're digitally saved to a server, who's to say a data breach won't happen tomorrow theoretically leaking all of that sensitive data. I have no problem with them developing Vanguard to make it better, as it's currently the leading anticheat but I find this to totally be the wrong course of action.

[bobombobo]

Yeah this is insane in my opinion. This puts everyone in danger, not just cheaters. like operatedprune32 said, image a security breach and now they have not only server data but also screenshots of users desktops? Thats a clear violation of privacy!! Also if a person gained access to riot servers, theoretically could they take screen shots as well almost using riot servers as a CNC hub??? This is terrible and after providers develop ss bypasses this will literally only effect legit players.

[sushi arts]

this is very unethical and dangerous for the consumer.

[Glorius97]

It seems like a violation of privacy to me. It makes no sense that they are taking screenshots of the different monitors just to know if you are using hacks or not, in fact I think that BE in Rainbow 6 also analyzes the browser's web pages and detects cheat websites

[Aristo]

We have to give too many things just to play a game; I am not upset or something, I don't even play, lol, or Valo, but they literally own your PC. Imagine logging in to your exchanges or running your BTC wallet on your PC. One day kaboom 0 btc in your wallet, and there's nobody to save you, they can easily say 'your PC was infected'.
If you can't stop playing League or Valorant, I highly recommend getting a second PC only to play lol/valo.
Don't trust them.

[.KaiZy]

Originally Posted by Glorius97

It seems like a violation of privacy to me. It makes no sense that they are taking screenshots of the different monitors just to know if you are using hacks or not, in fact I think that BE in Rainbow 6 also analyzes the browser's web pages and detects cheat websites

They don't. They take screenshots of Valorant and anything above Valorant but only if Valorant is focused.

[DerivatBG]

Love how some people are so ignorant and try defending companies like Riot and we already know that even Facebook, Microsoft and the rest are having some shady practices of using user data for some side purposes. What is left for some Chinese owned company (Tencent still owns Riot Games).

And the screenshot part is not the worst even - their Vanguard kernel level "anti-cheat" software that no other game uses such an intrusive tool only for purpose of "anti-cheat" which technically on Windows kernel level would have access to everything on your PC.

Let alone that it kind of kicks out the players that have older but still relevant PCs - everything from Intel under Core 8000 series - so if you have an aging now but still pretty useful i7-6700K or i7-7700K which is more than enough for League or Valorant - tough luck - everything under 8000 series from Intel does not support TPM 2.0 which is required for the Vanguard.

So screenshots + kernel level software that runs on your system practically from boot to shutdown if you want to play Riot's games - no way to convince me that this is not a security risk if Riot gets hacked and someone gains control over their side. (hm - doesn't the Chinese government have backdoors to all the companies owned by a Chinese conglomerate - oops..)
Try convincing me that they only take screenshots during games - no way to actually prove it and as Aristo mentioned above - they can always brush off any accusation towards them by mentioning that the end-user got hacked and the leak was not from their side.

[wastedelite]

This was my tweet LOL.

Thanks for posting it

[Willumppp]

One thing I also notice that whatever folder you, yourself, create in LOL or Valorant game folder, they always get deleted an hour or two later. I don't see much people discuss regarding this issue but does this mean that they can just delete or wipe something off your PC without you even knowing, like I receive no notifications whatsoever.

I tested this theory by installing WeMod in the Valorant folder and surprise surprise, it gets deleted after an hour. Tried it with Apex, CS2, Elden Ring and I have come to a conclusion that Vanguard always keep a watch on the game directory folder.

[Zurah]

I do NOT trust Riot that they aren't abusing what has come out of their pandoras box called Vanguard - I wonder if we are going to see lawsuits regarding privacy violations in the EU (or in my homecountry, Germany, which has even more strict privacy laws) regarding what they are doing.

Actually considered downloading Val again recently but remembered how much shady stuff they're doing with their anticheat, so I decided against that. Good job Riot, you created yet another reason for me to not play your game(s)

[axstas]

It will not gonna take anything but your game window and overlays

[Zabsports]

Don't rely on them. They capture screenshots of Valorant and anything higher, but only when Valorant is the focus.

[paydayheister]

So, there's word going around about a big VALORANT and LoL announcement from Riot Games, but honestly, I wouldn’t trust it just yet. We've seen rumors like this come and go before, only to end up with nothing concrete