Gab Hernandez 
Riot Games announced Vanguard’s global release date for League of Legends, which will bring the controversial anti-cheat engine to one of the biggest video games in the world.
The company announced in 2023 that Valorant’s always-on anti-cheat engine Vanguard would arrive at League of Legends. Vanguard allows Riot to hardware ban cheaters if detected during a match. The roll-out of Vanguard was a response to a security breach in early 2023, wherein hackers revealed the source code for its former anti-cheat engine, Packman.
The prevalence of bots and cheaters in League of Legends could lessen after Vanguard’s implementation. However, some players are concerned about the software’s deep access to users’ PCs, especially given how Riot developed surveillance technology for the Chinese government. There’s also the possibility that Vanguard bans people who use quality-of-life mods and kills League of Legends content creation overnight. Regardless, Riot will still roll out Vanguard soon.
When will Vanguard roll out for League of Legends globally?
Vanguard will roll out in League of Legends in April 2024 across all regions.
Vanguard will first roll out in the Philippines, likely as a testing ground before the engine’s global launch. Riot Games typically rolls out most live testing in the Philippines region, which was previously seen with Clash’s rollout. As an English-speaking country with a diverse range of setups and a high player count, it’s seemingly the perfect region for beta testing.
Filipino League of Legends players expressed concerns about the technical issues that arise from being the first region with Vanguard, but they don’t have much choice. The rest of the world only needs to wait a month before they join the Southeast Asian country.
LP adjustments, and prestige skins for Evelyn and Yuumi coming to League of Legends in 2024
Balance changes to items, prestige skins, and a revamped MMR system will come soon to League of Legends.
In addition to Vanguard news, Riot Games shared some updates on some of Riot Games’ plans for 2024. The developers acknowledged that their attempts to make items more viable made the game burst-focused, with items like Bloodsong and Stormsurge being particularly powerful.
Additionally, they acknowledged concerns about the seeding of new players and negative LP gains across all ranks. Riot plans to adjust the MMR system to be more consistent with gains and losses.
Lastly, Prestige skins for Evelyn, Kayle, Yuumi, and Leona will arrive in 2024. League of Legends will be busy for the next few months, and Vanguard’s release may dictate the tone for the rest of the year.
