Overview
- The buyer purchased a used AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D in late September and was immediately kicked and blocked when they launched Valorant.
- Riot’s Vanguard anti-cheat runs at kernel level and reads hardware identifiers to enforce bans across accounts and Riot titles.
- When Vanguard detected the blacklisted CPU it added the buyer’s other components to a device blacklist, so swapping the CPU alone does not restore access.
- Riot support has reportedly declined to lift or unlock the hardware ban, leaving the affected player with the only practical option of building a completely new PC.
- The case raises wider consumer concerns because rising prices push buyers to the second-hand market and many major games use similar device-based protections that can transfer penalties to new owners.