This is absolutely not remotely true with a root kit which could mess with all sorts of things, especially if you have multiple installed. And it won't be clear what is causing it.
It's not a weird view at all, it's perfectly pragmatic.
I understand that propietary things like the graphics drivers are inevitable to install on Windows, but what Riot does with their Vanguard anti-cheat system is crossing a line. If you look up the documentation on how to disable it, this piece of software loads every time your computer boots, and to enable it again the computer has to be restarted, so the kernel module can be loaded again. Most games will load any anti-cheat mechanisms when opening the game and run it only while playing. After you exit out of the game, every single process related to it is killed. This is different from having Vanguard constantly running in the background, with maximum privileges regardless of what you're doing.
That's a weird hill to die on, but it is, of course, your choice.