Riot Games Banned Nearly 300,000 Accounts

The developer removed 296,416 accounts from League of Legends and Valorant for unauthorized boosting activity.

Updated on Sept. 19, 2026 in eSports

Expressive editorial illustration featuring gestural blue and magenta shapes representing the high-speed motion of professional digital competitive gaming. — Riot Games has permanently banned nearly 300,000 accounts across League of Legends and Valorant as part of a significant crackdown on unauthorized boosting and competitive integrity violations. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Riot Games has banned 296,416 player accounts across League of Legends and Valorant for engaging in account boosting. The company utilized its Vanguard detection software to identify accounts involved in boosting, smurfing, and hitchhiking.

Why it matters

The move highlights the developer’s crackdown on activities that bypass competitive integrity, including players using alternate accounts to play with lower-ranked friends. These practices are now officially classified by the company as cheating.

Riot Games confirmed the removal of 296,416 accounts following the expansion of its Vanguard rank-boosting detection system to Valorant in the summer of 2026.

The players

Riot Games

The developer of League of Legends and Valorant is responsible for managing the competitive integrity of its gaming platforms.

Trick2g

A prominent gaming streamer who was among those issued a ban following the company's recent crackdown.

Trainwreckstv

A popular content creator who received a ban related to alleged rank-boosting activities.

Drew Levin

An industry figure who publicly criticized the use of alternate accounts for boosting before apologizing to impacted streamers.

The details

The bans affected several high-profile streamers, including Trick2g and Trainwreckstv, who admitted to using alternate accounts to bypass rank restrictions when queuing with friends. Industry figure Drew Levin highlighted the practice as boosting, though he later apologized to Trick2g for his public comments on the matter.

Summer 2026: Vanguard boosting detection expanded to include Valorant.
September 17, 2026: Riot Games announced the ban of 296,416 accounts.
September 18, 2026: Drew Levin issued an apology to Trick2g.

Season Trajectory

This enforcement action signals a major shift in competitive integrity, as Riot Games moves to aggressively penalize high-profile players and streamers for practices that were previously treated as minor infractions. These bans set a strict precedent for ranked play throughout the remainder of the season.

Players should be aware that queuing with lower-ranked friends via alternate accounts is now classified as a bannable offense under current security protocols. Users facing account issues must navigate the developer's direct communication channels, as there is no automated appeal process for these specific violations.

The takeaway

Maintaining competitive fairness often requires developers to take strict actions that affect even popular content creators. Players should review current anti-cheat guidelines to ensure their social gaming habits do not result in permanent account status changes.

What happens next

Riot Games is currently in direct contact with affected streamers to provide more clarity on its policies and plans to issue updated, official guidelines regarding playing with friends in ranked modes.