1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,280 Competing against other players online is a bigger part of video gaming today than it ever has been. 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:10,240 So it's no surprise then that fair play online is being taken more and more seriously, 3 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:14,080 both by gamers who view cheating as a huge impediment to their experience, 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:19,120 and by developers who are pushing anti-cheat software to keep players honest, 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,440 and of course prevent gamers from just quitting a game because they're frustrated with how many 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,600 cheaters there are on servers. But these anti-cheat mechanisms have come with some issues of their 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,800 and notably, the solution implemented by Riot Games for their hit shooter Valorant 8 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,080 has really ruffled the feathers of many in the community. 9 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:41,040 So why can an ostensibly good thing like anti-cheat software be so controversial? 10 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,560 And what made Valorant such a target for rage specifically? 11 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:49,280 The answer to this question largely comes down to how exactly anti-cheat software works. 12 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:54,160 You see, many solutions essentially function as drivers, and in case you don't know what those 13 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,480 are, they're pieces of software that allow your hardware devices to talk to your operating system. 14 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,480 But hold on, we're not talking hardware, we're talking a video game. 15 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,000 So why would anti-cheat software need to take the form of a driver? 16 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:11,520 The reason that developers do this is because drivers often operate in kernel mode. 17 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,080 The kernel is the core part of your operating system that interfaces most closely with your 18 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:21,200 hardware, and as such, programs running at the level of your kernel get special privileges 19 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,880 and can access parts of your computer that other applications cannot. 20 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:29,520 It's common for people who write cheats for video games to also implement them at the kernel level 21 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:34,240 in order to bypass restrictions. So the response from software developers often needs to be 22 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:41,280 at that level as well in order for them to be effective. And indeed, many anti-cheat implementations over the years have taken the form of kernel-level 23 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:46,880 drivers, including easy anti-cheat and battle-eye, which are used by Fortnite and PUBG respectively. 24 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,640 But while the rationale for running anti-cheat software at the kernel level 25 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,080 might make sense, it still presents some special issues. 26 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:59,040 One of them has to do with system stability, as giving any kind of software that much 27 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:03,760 privilege over your whole system can lead to errors or crashes if it isn't coded well. 28 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,600 Kind of like putting a teen driver, no pun intended, with a learner's permit behind 29 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,600 the wheel of a McLaren. Not to mention that poorly coded kernel mode drivers can leave 30 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:17,040 your computer very vulnerable to malware that takes aim at core parts of your operating system. 31 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,640 But while some of the major anti-cheat solutions that work on a kernel level 32 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:25,360 have actually been fairly well designed and haven't given users too many high-profile issues, 33 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:31,280 others have made headlines for the wrong reasons, such as when one notable anti-cheat service, 34 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:38,080 the ESEA client, was exploited by a developer back in 2013 to unwittingly turn gamers' PCs 35 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:43,600 into crypto miners. And Valorant's implementation, called Vanguard, has raised some additional 36 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:48,640 concerns. One is that it's always running. Unlike other popular anti-cheat software that 37 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:55,280 only runs when you start up your game. Vanguard, well, it likes to boot at boot time. And originally, 38 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,840 Riot Games didn't even offer a way to turn it off. The latest version allows you to turn it off, 39 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:04,800 but if you want to play Valorant, you actually have to reboot your PC in order to launch Vanguard 40 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:10,400 again. Pretty annoying. And while Vanguard isn't the only anti-cheat solution to run at boot, 41 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:16,160 it's been criticized for being especially invasive, as the driver is built to block programs that 42 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:21,920 deem suspicious, yet it's affected applications gamers commonly trust like CPU temperature 43 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,880 monitoring software. Vanguard also has issues not giving players proper notifications when a 44 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:32,560 legitimate program has been blocked, blocking hardware like keyboards, and even causing 45 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,800 blue screens of death. Remember what we said about how kernel mode software can make your system 46 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,520 unstable? And to top it all off, there's also the argument that placing anti-cheat software 47 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:47,200 at the kernel level will entice cheat makers to operate at that level more often as well, 48 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:52,800 with all the security and stability issues that presents. Of course, that isn't unique to Vanguard. 49 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:58,320 In fact, Doom Eternal's anti-cheat software, Dunuvo, was recently pulled due to fears stemming 50 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:03,440 from the fact that it too operates at the kernel level. But big name titles like Valorant do tend 51 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:08,160 to set trends for the industry, for better or worse. So thanks for watching guys. If you liked 52 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,520 this video, get subscribed, hit like, and be sure to hit us up in the comment section with 53 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,320 your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future.