Riot Games recently launched a wave of bans on VALORANT to help prevent smurfs from affecting the game's competitive order.
Smurfing is a major problem in almost all competitive multiplayer games. Some players create a second account to play with lower-ranked opponents for an easy experience, while others use the account to play with lower-ranked friends. However, this often ruins the other team's competitive experience as the smurf is better than them.
To help prevent smurfs from ruining the competitive experience, Riot recently issued a wave of bans to remove compromised accounts or accounts that violate the company's Terms of Service. While smurfing is not expressly listed in the Terms of Service, other related behaviors are covered.
For example, some smurfs will perform well, pushing other players to a higher rank. This gives undeserving players an easy way to climb the rankings and breaks the integrity of the competition for everyone else. Upgrading or using someone else's account to help you rank is against the Terms of Service and is a prohibited offense.
Other behavior such as trolling, harassing or inciting other players is also against the Terms of Service and toxic players may be banned. While most players have nothing to worry about, reading the Terms of Service is a nice reminder of how to play VALORANT and how to treat other players.
Riot didn't reveal how many players it banned or when the ban wave was issued, but players can at least take comfort in knowing that some smurfs have been removed from the game.
