You can now set Riot's Vanguard anti-cheat to run only during games

Riot Games is changing its Vanguard anti-cheat so it no longer launches at PC startup. After an update set to go live today, Vanguard will be 'on demand,' running only while you play and shutting down once gameplay ends. Vanguard drew controversy when it launched in 2020 because its kernel‑mode software gives Riot deep access to PCs and it ran silently in the background from boot.

Other titles use kernel‑mode anti‑cheat but limit it to while the game runs. Riot will now offer League of Legends and Valorant players the same option, though some conditions apply; Phillip Koskinas wrote that Vanguard will begin to support on‑demand sessions from sufficiently secured PC devices.

'On‑demand' means the driver component won't launch at startup, but only on systems that meet a set of modern security requirements. Koskinas said roughly 35% of players already satisfy the Pre‑Check and will see the option automatically.

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