League of Legends to ban thousands of smurf and bought accounts in major crackdown

Riot Games has announced a large-scale crackdown on smurfing, boosted accounts, and purchased accounts in League of Legends, which will begin with patch 25.18 on September 10 2025. The developer says the enforcement will target long-standing account abuse issues affecting matchmaking quality.

The sale of pre-levelled accounts and boosting services has been a persistent issue within the game, allowing players to bypass progression or enter skill brackets they would not normally reach.

Riot defines smurfing as deliberately bypassing matchmaking systems to play in lobbies that do not match a player’s actual skill, including using accounts played by others.

In a recent developer update, Riot confirmed that account selling, sharing, boosting, and duo boosting will be targeted. Legitimate alternate accounts will not be affected, but accounts obtained through prohibited means will face bans.

The company stated it will review historical data to identify violations, including botted accounts dating back to 2017.

When asked if creating a new account after a permanent ban was considered smurfing, Riot’s Drew Levin said that playing it personally was acceptable, though behaviour on such accounts would be monitored more closely.

Riot dismissed suggestions of publishing a public ban list, stating that naming large numbers of accounts was not appropriate.

Players with multiple purchased accounts were warned they would likely lose them, while one booster asked about future work options and was pointed towards alternative employment.

The initiative will be supported by Vanguard, Riot’s anti-cheat system, and is described as part of an ongoing effort to improve competitive integrity in League of Legends.