Riot Games is making moves to target smurfs in VALORANT

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Dealing with highly skilled players using alternate accounts (“smurfs”) is a major frustration for VALORANT players in ranked matches, and Riot Games is now addressing the issue.

Since VALORANT launched, players creating fake accounts – often called “smurfing” – has been a problem. Some do it to boost their friends’ rankings, while others just want to disrupt games at lower skill levels. Now, Riot Games is taking action to cut down on smurfing. Here’s a look at what they’re doing.

MFA to reduce smurfs in VALORANT

You’re likely familiar with getting a code on your phone when you sign in to Gmail – Riot is planning to try something similar. They’re testing a new security feature called Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) that will require some users to enable it through the Riot mobile app. This test, or ‘beta’ phase, will initially be available in North America, Latin America, Brazil, and South Korea.

With VALORANT patch 11.09, Riot Games will start banning accounts they believe were bought or used for boosting. This decision comes after players repeatedly complained about smurfs ruining the game. Riot explained they hope reducing account sharing will lead to fewer smurfs.

While this is a helpful step, it won’t completely fix the issue. Enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) will significantly improve your account security and help prevent hacking. Riot Games data shows that 80-90% of hacked accounts didn’t have 2FA turned on.

Who will be required to activate Riot Mobile MFA?

To keep your account secure, Riot Games may ask players at the Ascendant rank or higher (including Immortal and Radiant) to turn on multi-factor authentication. We may also require it if we detect that your account is being used by someone else. If you have multiple accounts and use them individually, these changes won’t impact you.

This change affects higher-ranked players because smurfing at those levels has the biggest impact and raises concerns about fair play and account sharing. If we detect that your account may have been shared, you’ll need to install the Riot Mobile app and complete a quick, one-time verification.

Upcoming updates

Starting with the game update on patch 11.08, you can report players for “Rank Manipulation” using the in-game reporting tool. This will help Riot gather information about smurfing and improve our systems, so please report any suspicious behavior.

Starting with patch 11.09, players with shared accounts in North America, Latin America, Brazil, and Korea will need to enable Riot Mobile MFA. Riot will also be banning accounts known to have been bought or used for boosting. In patch 11.10, Riot Mobile MFA will then be required for all Ascendant-ranked and higher accounts in those same regions.

In 2026, Riot Mobile MFA will be required for shared accounts and Ascendant+ in AP and EU.

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2025-09-19 01:41