Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, is facing controversy over its anti-cheat system that has been accused of "bricking" players' PCs. The issue has caused players frustration and led to the game's community imploding. Despite the backlash, Riot has defended its anti-cheat system, which it claims is necessary to maintain the integrity of the game and prevent cheating.

Players have seen errors like “Windows cannot access this specific device,” “we couldn’t install a dependency,” “Vanguard error 1067” ever since patch 14.9 alongside Vanguard dropped. While Riot has denied these claims, players are adamant that Vanguard is the cause of all this.

Players have suspected Vanguard of being spyware, but downloading it prompts a message warning about access to core PC functions. Vanguard has been accused of damaging users' computers by tampering with files and prompting the deletion of critical files for Windows OS, including System32.

Riot has released several statements clarifying that the problems users are experiencing are not related to the recently patched Vanguard. They have also offered solutions to assist users with any issues they may be having, while simultaneously denying all allegations. However, players have produced multiple pieces of evidence contradicting Riot's responses.