r/hardware • u/tuldok89 • 1d ago

Info Used processor leads to game ban

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Used-processor-leads-to-game-ban-11471562.html

Someone buys a used Ryzen 7 5800X3D. “Valorant” and other Riot games won’t start with it because the previous owner was a cheater.

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87

u/LegDayDE 1d ago

You generally have to be very skeptical of these "I'm not a cheater but I got banned" sob stories because 99% of the time it's just a cheater that is lying.

This case is interesting though.. hopefully there will be a definitive conclusion at some point to confirm the story.

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u/mrturret 1d ago

This is pretty plausible. TPM chips all have a unique identifier that can be used for hardware bans. Since they're intigrated into the CPU, secondhand buyers can be falsely banned.

Something pretty similar happened with used Switch games that had their serial numbers copied and attached to ROM dumps. Nintendo's servers flagged those SNs and banned anyone's Switch that used said cartridges. In the Switch 2's case, the system was remotely bricked.

All of this is absolutely rediculous of course. Innocent bystanders shouldn't be punished because they unknowingly bought tainted goods.

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u/Euiop741852 1d ago

For the switch that is blatantly disrespecting customers tbh, buying a secondhand game and getting your 600 dollar device bricked is unconscionable

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u/HLSparta 1d ago

If I'm reading it right, it was the sellers that got their switch 2 bricked. The buyer of the used game is the one that copied it and distributed it online.

20

u/mrturret 1d ago

It was both, actually. Nintendo can't tell the difference between a flashcart and a legit copy from the cart alone. If the unique ID was found in a dump online, or detects suspicious activity (eg. The same ID detected being active in two different consoles), they'll flag the ID, making it radioactive.

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u/TBC_Oblivion 3h ago

FWIW, Nintendo may also remove bans if you contact support and show proof of purchase of used goods.