Facepalm: Battlefield 6's final open beta phase begins on Thursday and runs through the weekend. Interested parties who also have Valorant installed should ensure that one client is fully closed before opening the other, as players have discovered that the two games' infamous anti-cheat systems are so strict that they clash with one another.
Redditors recently shared security violation messages from Battlefield 6's unusually strict anti-cheat software, labeling Valorant as a conflicting program. Although the warning might seem like a request to uninstall the free-to-play first-person shooter, Riot Games says that isn't the case.
Phillip Koskinas, the company's head of anti-cheat, recently explained that players can keep Valorant installed while playing the Battlefield 6 open beta as long as the two games' clients are not running simultaneously. The trouble stems from the similarity between their anti-cheat systems.
Vanguard is compatible with Javelin, and you don't need to uninstall one anti-cheat to use the other.
– Phillip Koskinas (@deteccphilippe) August 11, 2025
However, BF6 does not currently allow the VALORANT client to be running simultaneously, because both drivers race to protect regions of game memory with the same technique.
Riot drew criticism a few years ago when Valorant began requiring TPM 2.0 and Windows Secure Boot, which check users' PCs for anomalies upon initial boot to deter sophisticated cheating software. Many players consider it unsafe to grant any third-party software kernel-level access because errors and hacking could cause significant damage.
Battlefield 6 also requires Secure Boot, and its security methods can potentially cause conflicts with those of Valorant. Koskinas stated that both titles use the same technique to protect game memory, so Battlefield 6's anti-cheat might ironically perceive Valorant's as a threat to system integrity. Completely closing the Valorant client while running Battlefield 6, and vice versa, should resolve the issue.
Battlefield 6 just told me to uninstall Valorant. Literally.
byu/AnAveragePlayer inBattlefield
Security-minded users have legitimate concerns about kernel-level anti-cheat, but recent research might support the practice. Although it doesn't completely resolve the issue, it makes cheating costlier and more difficult. Black market developers generate millions annually selling cheats, with simpler hacks costing around $10 and kernel-proof methods running into the hundreds of dollars.
Still, a couple of YouTubers have demonstrated more extreme cheating methods that circumvent anti-cheat because they don't directly interface with the PC. One built a machine that analyzes gameplay footage and shocks his muscles to achieve precise mouse movements. Another achieves a similar effect by moving the mouse pad.
The final Battlefield 6 open beta runs from August 14-17, and the final game launches on October 10. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, also slated for release later this year, requires TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, so it might also exhibit conflicts with the Battlefield 6 and Valorant clients.