League of Legends cracks down on smurfs: “We’re going to take big swings like we did against inting and griefing earlier this year.”

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The developers also clarified a grey area pertaining to alternate accounts and deranking.

As a dedicated gamer diving into the world of League of Legends, I’m excited to share that Riot Games has taken a stand against one of our community’s longstanding issues – smurfing. They’re gearing up to tackle boosting, hitchhiking, and other related practices, making the gameplay fairer and more enjoyable for everyone!

League of Legends bans smurfs and bots

In the rest of 2025, League of Legends is expected to implement significant changes aimed at combating smurfs. This includes taking action against individuals who engage in boosting, account sharing, purchasing accounts, and using bots. As announced by Riot Games, there are upcoming Vanguard updates planned. Notably, Patch 25.18 will feature enhanced detection mechanisms for better identification of such activities.

For the rest of the year 2025, our strategy will involve bold actions similar to those taken against toxic players such as intentional feeding (inting) and griefing earlier this year. We plan to tackle some of the most prevalent destructive behaviors that are currently impacting the League of Legends community.

Beyond this, Riot Games unveiled that their True Skill 2 (TS2) initiative will significantly combat smurfing due to enhanced precision in matchmaking rating (MMR) identification. The developers have been experimenting with TS2 in North America since March and recently extended the trials to un-Ranked queues in Korea only last month.

As per the developers’ reports, skilled gamers are now finding themselves in appropriately matched games within approximately five games. This represents a significant acceleration compared to the past, where it took them around three times longer.

What is smurfing in League of Legends?

Riot Games has defined crucial smurfing-related phrases to ensure everyone understands. When a player uses an account that’s not their own to increase its matchmaking rating (MMR), it’s referred to as boosting. On the other hand, hitchhiking occurs when a player teams up with another account, often a booster, in order to be promoted to a higher rank. Lastly, using or buying accounts that are not leveled up by a single player and may have been automated (botted) goes against Riot’s terms of service.

As a devoted user, let me shed some light on a topic that could use some clarification: creating multiple accounts solely for personal use won’t land you in trouble (as far as not intentionally manipulating their ranks is concerned). However, keep in mind that we’re continuously working on refining the systems to ensure these accounts are appropriately matched based on skill level. This way, high-skilled players like us can maintain a fair gaming experience without lower-skilled players being affected.

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2025-08-11 22:12