Valorant player says secondhand CPU carried a hardware ban; Riot disputes key details

After-Cartoonist-196 claimed on the German-language PCBaumeister subreddit that a secondhand CPU carried the previous owner’s Valorant hardware ban. The player said Riot support told them the ban had become associated with other components in their PC.

The player says the CPU was bought on September 21, while the previous owner’s ban was allegedly recorded on August 12. The account was later reported by PC World and circulated on social media.

Riot disputes component-wide blacklist

Riot anticheat head Phillip Koskinas said on Twitter that he could not find a support ticket matching the player’s account and described the story as “pretty unlikely.” He confirmed that Riot hardware bans have a maximum duration of four months.

Koskinas also said Riot support must provide the remaining ban duration when replying to a ticket. He separately denied that other hardware is blacklisted simply because it is detected in the same system as a banned component.

If the August 12 date is accurate, the four-month limit would fall in mid-December. The source does not independently verify whether the ban transferred with the CPU or whether Riot support gave the player the response described.