DesktopMate on Steam: A Fun App That Could Get You Banned in Valorant

DesktopMate is a small free application on Steam that lets anyone place an animated 3D character on their desktop. Similar to Bonzi from decades ago. These characters can move around, react to mouse interactions, and provide a fun visual element to your screen. Many users enjoy the novelty of having anime-style characters or mascots accompanying them while they work or game. But, what people don't realise is that running Desktop Mate alongside certain games can get you banned.

Valorant’s Vanguard Anti-Cheat System

Valorant, developed by Riot Games, is one of the most popular tactical shooters today. To maintain competitive integrity, Riot employs Vanguard, an advanced anti-cheat system that operates at the kernel level—meaning it has deep access to a player's system to detect potential cheating software. While this is quite effective a lot of people are against this level of intrusion on their computers. But if you want to play the game that’s the cost, unfortunately.

While this generally ensures a fair playing field, Vanguard is known for being extremely aggressive when identifying unauthorized software. Programs that inject overlays, manipulate graphics, or interact with the game client in any unusual way can be flagged, even if they are harmless. Unfortunately, DesktopMate falls into this category.

Why DesktopMate Triggers Vanguard

Even though Desktop Mate is not a hacking tool, it does function in a way that can make anti-cheat software suspicious. Here’s why:

Overlay & Rendering Behavior: Desktop Mate uses overlay-style rendering to display animated characters on the screen. Anti-cheat systems often flag overlay software because some cheats use similar techniques to inject hacks into a game.

Unusual Background Processes: Anti-cheat software like Vanguard monitors what is running in the background. Desktop Mate continuously runs in the background to maintain character animations, which can appear suspicious.

Potential Memory Manipulation Conflicts: Some anti-cheat systems monitor memory usage for unauthorized modifications. Since Desktop Mate interacts with the system’s graphics and memory, it might be misinterpreted as malicious behavior.

Player Reports & Community Warnings

There have been multiple reports from players across forums and gaming communities about unexpected bans while using Desktop Mate. Some players received warnings, while others faced temporary or even permanent bans from Valorant. Discussions on Steam Community and Reddit highlight cases where Vanguard flagged Desktop Mate as suspicious software, leading to disciplinary action.

One Steam user mentioned:

"I was running Desktop Mate while playing Valorant, and after a few hours, I got disconnected and banned. I wasn’t using any cheats, just the character animations. Be careful if you use this!"

Another user shared a similar experience on Reddit:

"I had Desktop Mate open while launching Valorant. Within minutes, Vanguard detected it, and I got a message saying my account was under review. I immediately uninstalled Desktop Mate and restarted my PC."

How to Avoid Getting Banned when using DesktopMate?

If you enjoy using Desktop Mate but also play Valorant or other games with strict anti-cheat measures, here are some precautions you can take:

Other Games That Might Be Affected

While Valorant’s Vanguard is one of the most well-known anti-cheat systems, other competitive multiplayer games also have strict security measures. Some games that may similarly flag Desktop Mate include:

While not every game will flag Desktop Mate, it’s always best to be cautious when using third-party software that interacts with your system’s visuals and memory.

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