This comparison was checked on October 5, 2026. Products change their requirements, supported games, and detection systems. The examples show documented architecture, rather than a ranking or a guarantee that any particular match is free of cheating.
Section: VALORANT and Vanguard.
Riot describes Vanguard as a game-time client component and a kernel driver. Its traditional mode starts the driver at boot so protection can observe the environment before the game client starts.
On June 24, 2026, Riot announced optional on-demand sessions for sufficiently secured PCs. In this mode, protection starts with a Riot game and runs while it is being played. The published prerequisites include an appropriate Windows version, Secure Boot, a TPM, virtualization-based security, code-integrity protection, and an IOMMU. Boot-managed operation remains a different mode; it is inaccurate to describe every Vanguard installation as always starting at boot.
VALORANT also illustrates why client protection cannot replace server design. Its server-side visibility policy limits hidden information sent to a client. Local privilege and server disclosure are separate controls.
Section: Protection lifetime is a concrete difference.
A kernel component’s privilege describes what it may access. Its lifetime describes when it runs. The two properties are separate. The diagram compares illustrative boot-managed and session-managed lifetimes. Its animation time is slowed for viewing, rather than measuring a real boot.
The bars preserve the period each component was active. Ending a session-managed monitor when the game stops does not mean it had lower privilege while the game was running.
Section: Counter-Strike and Valve’s layers.
VAC, Valve Anti-Cheat, contributes client-side detection and server enforcement of VAC status. The game still needs its own validation and review systems. The public material does not provide a complete recipe for VAC or VAC Live detections, so do not infer one from a product label.
Valve’s August 19, 2024 update described initial limited-match testing of VacNet 3.0 and asked for details of incorrectly cancelled matches. That dated announcement does not establish a universal current rollout or a measured detection rate.
Valve’s April 25, 2024 Counter-Strike 2 notes added an Overwatch system for match-demo review by trusted partners. This is a dated description of review support, not a promise that every account can access the old CS:GO review interface.
The earlier CS:GO Trust Factor documentation describes matchmaking using account and play observations, with changing factors left undisclosed. Matchmaking risk, detection, and a reviewed sanction are different decisions. A historical FAQ cannot establish today’s internal CS2 scoring formula.
Section: Call of Duty and RICOCHET.
Activision’s current description combines server-side systems and investigation with a PC kernel driver. It states that the driver operates only while a protected Call of Duty title runs, and monitors software interacting with those titles.
Server-side protections can also affect console players through shared services and cross-play. The presence of a PC driver does not imply that every participant uses the same local component.
Section: Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye.
Epic’s Easy Anti-Cheat integration through Epic Online Services supports client-server and peer-to-peer architectures. In client-server mode, game network code carries opaque messages between the client and server protection modules. Opaque means the game transports the data without interpreting its internal format. The developer still owns game-rule validation and must integrate the required session and message lifecycle.
BattlEye describes user-mode and kernel-mode protection, proactive prevention, and detection. These descriptions establish parts of its design, rather than an independent measurement of how well it protects every supported title.
Alternative: Compare what a system sees, when it runs, and who owns the decision. Marketing names do not answer those questions alone.
A useful comparison also includes supported platforms, privacy, reliability, appeals, and the game’s own authority model. Public ban counts lack the undetected cases and legitimate population needed to calculate precision or recall. Lesson 15.4 explains those missing denominators.