Riot adds optional on-demand mode to Vanguard anti-cheat

Riot Games has introduced an optional "on-demand" mode for its Vanguard anti-cheat software, allowing it to run only when a player launches a supported game rather than continuously from system startup. The change, announced on June 24, 2026, and rolling out from that date, addresses long-standing player concerns about the software's persistent background operation.

The new mode, called Vanguard OnDemand, requires players to meet a specific set of modern security requirements dubbed "Vanguard PreCheck." To qualify, a PC must be running Windows 11 25H2 with UEFI Secure Boot, a TPM 2.0 security chip, Virtualization-Based Security (VBS), Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI), and Input-Output Memory Management Unit (IOMMU) all enabled. According to Phillip Koskinas, Riot's anti-cheat lead, approximately 35 percent of the player base already uses hardware that meets these criteria, with that share growing by one to two percentage points each month. An estimated three percent of players are on incompatible hardware and will not have access to the on-demand option.

The technical shift is enabled by a new Windows 11 feature called Runtime Driver Attestation, developed with...