Valorant's anti-cheat system requires TPM 2.0 and secure boot on Windows 11

[Daniel Sims]

In context: Reports from users trying out Windows 11 are starting to indicate that the anti-cheat software in Riot Games' competitive first-person shooter requires secure boot and Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM 2.0) when played on Microsoft's upcoming operating system. Valorant's "Vanguard" anti-cheat is already known to be on the stricter side, and now Riot seems to be making use of Windows 11's controversial hardware requirements.

Anti-Cheat Police Department, a Twitter account that aggregates reports on cheating in online games, recently collected some forum posts from users having issues running Valorant on Windows 11. They show a "VAN9001" error that seems to occur when trying to play Valorant on Windows 11 without TPM2.0 or secure boot enabled. The screencaps of the posts seem to confirm Riot is requiring both to play Valorant on Windows 11.

Windows 11 itself already requires TPM 2.0 which has caused a considerable amount of confusion among users trying out the operating system before its full release later this year. Secure boot seems to be what's confusing people trying to play Valorant, as tutorials on how to fix VAN9001 mostly involve activating secure boot in the BIOS.

Valorant has started to enforce both TPM and Secure boot if YOU are playing on Windows 11 to ensure a trusted platform when playing Valorant. @RiotVanguard team yet again leading the anti-cheat industry in the right direction for competitive integrity pic.twitter.com/qgTM1yNqdA

— Anti-Cheat Police Department 🕵️ (@AntiCheatPD) September 3, 2021

This may be a new level of anti-cheat security, but it's not the first time Valorant's anti-cheat has met controversy. Vanguard runs with system privileges deeper than many find comfortable. Last year Riot had to give players the option to independently turn off or uninstall Vanguard after they close Valorant.

Requiring TPM 2.0 in order to play a game may seem unusual, but this is less about Valorant and more about Windows 11's strict system requirements. Windows 11's TPM requirement effectively puts its CPU requirements far above Valorant's CPU requirements. According to Riot, people using Windows 10 and earlier can play Valorant on processors as old as Core 2 Duos. Microsoft, on the other hand, confirmed Windows 11 won't support anything older than Intel 7th generation and AMD 2nd generation Zen processors.

Microsoft plans to release Windows 11 to the general public on October 5.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/91138-valorant-anti-cheat-system-requires-tpm-20-secure.html

 

[gamerk2]

Personally, I have no issues of a developer making use of something that is required to be supported. That being said, I'd like to know what benefit using TPM has in terms of anti-cheat detection.

 

[LinxESP]

Personally, I have no issues of a developer making use of something that is required to be supported. That being said, I'd like to know what benefit using TPM has in terms of anti-cheat detection.

Mainly hardware banning, even if they can buy another tpm module, it's harder compare to what is now

 

[DukeJukem]

Riot is going to lose a lot of people because of this imo. Not everyone is going to change to windows 11 right away or if at all.

 

[Dimitriid]

I expect a lot more news items like this to strongly signal to all gamers: "STAY ON WINDOWS 10" at least until they buy a brand new system and can reasonably start from 11 from day one.

Probably not ideal for adoption though but hey, Microsoft is adamant about not caring about "old" and/or custom PCs anymore for their new OS.

 

[Soulburn74]

Here I fixed it for you: Everything requires tpm 2.0 and secure boot on Windows 11......nonstory

 

[Nobina]

It's becoming a trend I see.

 

[Lionvibez]

Riot is going to lose a lot of people because of this imo. Not everyone is going to change to windows 11 right away or if at all.

You don't need to change to windows 11, the game will still play fine on windows 10 which is supported until 2025 from MS.

 

[texasrattler]

You don't need to change to windows 11, the game will still play fine on windows 10 which is supported until 2025 from MS.

You still need a 7th gen proc or newer to play the game.
While windows 10 itself will be fine for a few more years, doesn't mean the software you use will. As we are seeing, some games and software will require win 11 and certain hardware to even play.
These are the times we live in. While people won't like it, most will still move on to 11 either just because or to play/use whatever software they need/want. It happened with 7/8 to 10, it'll happen again.

 

[bandit8623]

So what you are saying is if you want to cheat use windows 10.....

 

[bandit8623]

Too bad valorant wont support linux

 

[scavengerspc]

While windows 10 itself will be fine for a few more years, doesn't mean the software you use will.

I hadn't thought of that before, and it raises another question. Microsoft has to know if they keep up the hardware requirement pressure, it will be a long time until everyone has Win 11. So will they continue to support 10 if it is not being used because so many will already have the hardware they need?

 

[texasrattler]

I hadn't thought of that before, and it raises another question. Microsoft has to know if they keep up the hardware requirement pressure, it will be a long time until everyone has Win 11. So will they continue to support 10 if it is not being used because so many will already have the hardware they need?

Legally yes but they don't control other software companies or intel. They can n do have deals with companies that they can influence. So while they have to keep 10 updated, if other software has different requirements, it's not MS issue. We all know MS is behind it but legally nothing can be done as the issue is coming from the outside not MS itself. So if a game requires this or that to play, MS is off the hook.

 

[texasrattler]

I switched from Win 7 pro to win 10 pro 6 yrs ago. No issues for me. Will likely switch to 11. No reason not to but also as I've stated before some software will require 11 anyways. Most of that won't happen right away but in a year or so, you will see things start to change.
Some games, mostly newer ones, may require Win 11 so make sure to do research when making your gaming choices. Currently older hardware cant take advantage of Win 11 so again make sure you have the PC that can handle it. Cause if you don't, may not be able to play newer games in the future.

 

[Burty117]

This actually makes me very happy. I hate cheaters in games, completely ruins the experience.

Secure boot as a requirement should have been a thing when Windows 10 came out.

Now it's much harder to put dodgy unsigned drivers at boot time.

I assume TPM requirement has some use as well, I've not looked into it but I wonder if the game files themselves can be encrypted and only decrypted by the TPM chip, making it even harder for cheaters to inject or read core game and network code.

Only guessing here but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Mainly hardware banning, even if they can buy another tpm module, it's harder compare to what is now

Makes me wonder if this is the real reason for TPM, eventually tracking each PC down to the hardware level.

 

[LinxESP]

Makes me wonder if this is the real reason for TPM, eventually tracking each PC down to the hardware level.

Nah, they could just as easy put a file somewhere in /system32 with data and literally no one will spend time searching about it ,or in the EFI partition
Yeah, it would not survive reinstalls but you get the point

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Nah, they could just as easy put a file somewhere in /system32 with data and literally no one will spend time searching about it ,or in the EFI partition
Yeah, it would not survive reinstalls but you get the point

Each TPM chips has a unique EK, so even if you reinstall...

 

[Burty117]

Makes me wonder if this is the real reason for TPM...

What did you think the "fake" reason was?

 

[bandit8623]

This actually makes me very happy. I hate cheaters in games, completely ruins the experience.

Secure boot as a requirement should have been a thing when Windows 10 came out.

Now it's much harder to put dodgy unsigned drivers at boot time.

I assume TPM requirement has some use as well, I've not looked into it but I wonder if the game files themselves can be encrypted and only decrypted by the TPM chip, making it even harder for cheaters to inject or read core game and network code.

Only guessing here but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

while it may help this further puts people locked into microsofts ecosystem. and people will just buy new tpm modules for 50$

 

[Burty117]

while it may help this further puts people locked into microsofts ecosystem. and people will just buy new tpm modules for 50$

Everyone runs windows anyway, it's not really anything to do with locking people into Microsoft's eco-system, it's purely a lack of competition. I'm fairly certain this feature could be added to Linux if anyone actually wanted to support it.

And again, fine by me, if the cheaters now have to spend even more to get back into a game, at least it's hurting their pocket more.

 

[cliffordcooley]

And again, fine by me, if the cheaters now have to spend even more to get back into a game, at least it's hurting their pocket more.

Cheaters would be the first ones qualified for Windows 11.

 

[Norsiiii]

Riot is going to lose a lot of people because of this imo. Not everyone is going to change to windows 11 right away or if at all.

More people not reading beyond the headline...And also misreading the headline at that...

Nobody is being required to change over to Windows 11, and those that do will only be able to install W11 in the first place if they already meet these requirements.

The pool of potential players who will be unable to play Valorant under these rules due to a) being on W11, but b) not having TPM or Secure Boot, is exactly zero players big. Since nobody can be on W11 without TPM or Secure Boot.

This rule does not effect anybody playing on any other OS or Windows version. I fail to see any problem here.