Valorant To Stop Working For Vanguard-Incompatible Windows 10 Versions

Valorant is one of the most famous online shooter games. The free-to-play game is developed by Riot Games, a Los Angeles-based studio better known for developing League of Legends. The game was released in 2020 solely for PC.

Valorant is said to have been inspired by Counter-Strike. The game has several game modes ranging from classic team-based matches to free-for-all deathmatch.

The game also incorporated creative new modes. The weapons in the game are futuristic. The players, known as Agents, have special sets of offensive and defensive abilities that they can use during a match.

MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

• Valorant players will no longer be able to run the game on a few Microsoft Windows 10 versions, as they are no longer compatible with the game’s anti-cheat software, Vanguard.
• The change will take place from 24th of November.

Now in a surprising move, Riot Games has announced that Valorant will no longer support certain unmaintained versions of Microsoft Windows 10. These versions include :

• Version 1507 codenamed Threshold released in July 2015
• Version 1511 codenamed Threshold 2 released in November 2015
• Version 1607 codenamed Redstone released in 2016
• Version 1703 codenamed Redstone 2 released in April 2017
• Version 1709 codenamed Redstone 3 released in October 2017

In the official announcement, the reason they cited was that the said version of Windows no longer supported Vanguard, Valorant’s anti-cheat and security software built by the studio itself. The change will be effective from 24th November.

According to the statement, Valorant cheaters were exploiting the flaw that came with those windows versions’ incompatibility with the software. The announcement read as follows,

Starting November 24, 2022, VALORANT will no longer support older versions of Windows that are not fully compatible with Vanguard, VALORANT’s anti-cheat and security software. These versions of Windows are no longer supported by Microsoft, allowing cheaters to bypass certain security features that enable us to keep VALORANT safe.”

The first reaction of Valorant players was amazement and disappointment. But the justification given by the studio has its merit. Because in the end, a fair and safe playing environment is a must for a healthy and competitive playing environment.

The decision will not affect Valorant players with genuine copies of windows. But the ones using the cracked version will be wary of updating their OS, as certain feature updates end up discovering that the windows copy is not genuine, and the players will start getting ingenuity errors.

Will this step help prevent any future cheat exploits from ruining the playing experience in Valorant? Discuss in the comments below.

Similar read: Valorant Tier List: All Characters Ranking [Oct. 2022]