Riot Games Finally Lets You Turn Off Vanguard Anti-Cheat When Not Playing
Riot Games is making a major change to its Vanguard anti-cheat system. After an update set to go live today (and which may already be active by the time you read this), Vanguard will no longer launch automatically when your PC boots up. Instead, it will operate on an “on-demand” basis, meaning it will only run when you're playing a game and will shut down once you're done. This is a welcome change for many users who have long found the system intrusive.
What Was Wrong With Vanguard?
When Vanguard launched in 2020, it sparked controversy due to its kernel mode software design. This gives Riot Games access to your PC at a deep level, which many users found concerning. Unlike other games that use similar anti-cheat systems—such as Genshin Impact, Doom Eternal, and Call of Duty—Vanguard would run continuously in the background, even when no game was active. Now, League of Legends and Valorant players will have the same option, with some conditions.
On-Demand Mode: What You Need to Know
According to Riot Games' anti-cheat chief, Phillip Koskinas, the change will be available to users on sufficiently secured PC devices. "Starting later today, the universally beloved anti-cheat product, Vanguard, will begin to support on-demand sessions from all sufficiently secured PC devices," Koskinas wrote in an update. This means that Vanguard will not launch when your system starts, but will only run when you play a game.
However, this new on-demand mode is only available if your system meets specific security requirements. These include pre-boot security mechanisms and Windows' native protection features. If your hardware meets these conditions, Vanguard can safely end its operation, freeing up system resources.
Hardware and Software Requirements
For most users, this is a matter of convenience rather than capability. Koskinas noted that roughly 35% of Riot Games players already meet the requirements for Vanguard's new "Pre-Check," so the on-demand mode will appear automatically after the update. For others, the requirements include:
- Running Windows 11 25H2 or later
- Enabling UEFI Secure Boot
- Having TPM 2.0
- Enabling VBS (Virtualization-Based Security)
- Enabling HVCI (Hypervisor-Enforced Code Integrity)
- Enabling IOMMU (Input/Output Memory Management Unit)
While the update provides details on what each of these features does, setting them up may require some tinkering in your BIOS, which might not be everyone's idea of fun.
Not Everyone Will Get This Feature
According to the update, about 3% of Riot Games players are on older hardware that can't meet the Pre-Check requirements. For these users, the on-demand option will not be available unless they upgrade their systems. However, Vanguard will continue to operate as usual for the foreseeable future, so this isn't an immediate concern.
If you're content with Vanguard as it is and have no issues playing Valorant or League of Legends, there's no need to take any action. You can simply ignore the update and continue using your PC as you always have.
Why Did It Take So Long?
Koskinas explained that it took this long to implement the on-demand option because it wasn’t until recently that Windows and PC hardware had built-in security features sufficient to enable it. "Microsoft and PC equipment manufacturers have long-recognized the need for cryptographic verification of boot processes and of the kernel, so they’ve been cookin’ up heat for quite some time," he said.
Through collaboration with Microsoft's Xbox OS Security Team, Riot Games has been able to implement improvements to the Windows kernel that allow for the on-demand mode in Vanguard.
Future of Anti-Cheat
Koskinas also mentioned that Riot Games will continue to advance its anti-cheat efforts as botting becomes more complex with the rise of AI. However, the company is committed to minimizing user friction. "Friction is not fun, and we prefer incentives to requirements," he concluded. "For that reason, our trust segmentation will be surgical, and while we might add more checks to Pre-Check in the future, we plan on keeping things optional until you’re in the most competitive segments, on the strangest devices, or amongst the highest ranks."
