If you think a VALORANT penalty was issued in error, appeal through Riot Player Support. Riot says it manually reviews appeals and will correct a penalty if it determines the decision was wrong. But public Riot materials do not establish that a secondhand GPU by itself causes a ban—or that replacing the GPU reverses one. First identify exactly what the game says, then ask Riot to review your specific case.
Identify what kind of restriction you received
Before submitting an appeal, record the full message shown in VALORANT, including any error code. Riot distinguishes account penalties from device-level hardware bans, while Vanguard security restrictions are a separate category.
| What the restriction applies to | What to look for | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Account suspension | A message identifying an account penalty or suspension. | Appeal through Riot Player Support and ask for the account penalty to be reviewed. |
| Hardware ban | A message indicating that the physical device is blocked. Riot’s Community Pact distinguishes a hardware ban from an account suspension. | Appeal through Riot Player Support and ask whether the restriction is attached to the device. |
| Vanguard security restriction | An error or notice about security requirements or Windows settings. Riot’s guidance discusses requirements such as TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, HVCI/VBS, and IOMMU. | Check the specific Vanguard guidance and ask support whether the notice is a security restriction rather than an account or hardware penalty. |
A security requirement notice should not automatically be described as a ban. Riot discusses Vanguard security restrictions separately from account and hardware penalties in its Vanguard restrictions guidance.
Submit an appeal to Riot Player Support
- Capture the exact notice. Write down or take a screenshot of the full message and error code. Note when it appeared and whether VALORANT identifies an account, device, or security restriction.
- Open a VALORANT support request. Use Riot’s support request form and provide the account and issue details it requests. Do not submit someone else’s account as your own.
- Explain the GPU history factually. Say that the GPU was previously owned, and separate what you know firsthand from what you do not know. Do not claim to know what its former owner did unless you have direct evidence.
- Request the relevant review. Ask Riot to review whether the penalty was correctly applied and whether it is tied to your account or the device, or whether the displayed message is a Vanguard security restriction.
- Keep the response and follow up through support. Riot says appeals are manually reviewed. Its support form also warns that penalties properly imposed will not be cancelled or adjusted.
Riot’s Community Pact states: “If you believe a penalty was issued in error, you can appeal it by contacting Player Support. We’ll manually review the case, and if we got it wrong, we’ll make it right.” See Riot’s Community Pact.
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What to expect from the review
Riot’s Privacy Notice says an appealed decision is reviewed independently by a Player Support representative. Riot says it will inform the player of any action taken or not taken, with a written explanation within 45 days, unless it needs more time and communicates an extension. This is the notice’s stated timeframe, not a guarantee that every case will be resolved within 45 days. See the Riot Games Privacy Notice.
Riot’s public materials do not establish how a former owner’s activity might affect a later owner, disclose the anti-cheat evidence in an individual case, or identify a GPU-specific ban trigger. Support may not disclose detection signals or identify a former owner, so focus the appeal on the facts you can verify and the exact notice you received.
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What not to do while appealing
- Do not assume that buying another GPU will clear a restriction; Riot’s public guidance does not recommend replacement hardware as an appeal remedy.
- Do not create another account to evade enforcement.
- Do not use tools that alter hardware identity. Riot’s reviewed guidance does not recommend them as a way to appeal a penalty.
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