Some VALORANT players are being stopped from launching the game unless they update their motherboard BIOS, and it is part of Riot’s anti cheat fight against advanced hardware cheats.
Riot says it found a serious “pre boot” security flaw on some modern motherboards where a setting can look enabled but still fail to protect the PC during the first seconds after power on. Riot explains that this gap can let DMA cheat devices inject code early, before Windows and Vanguard are fully active, which makes cheats harder to detect.
Why VAN Errors Overloaded This Time
This is not a blanket rule for everyone yet, because Riot is mainly targeting “restricted” players, meaning PCs that Vanguard flags as too “cheat capable” based on suspicious behavior or risky security setups. If you are affected, you will see a VAN, RESTRICTION message and VALORANT will not start until the required security steps are done, which can include a BIOS update.
Riot says motherboard makers have already produced BIOS updates to fix the issue and close the gap, and Riot links to security advisories from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock. The goal is simple, make sure features like IOMMU and “Pre Boot DMA Protection” really work from the very first moment the PC turns on, not just on paper.
Riot also says it is looking at expanding this requirement to all players in the highest ranks, Ascendant and above, to keep top ranked games more secure and fair.
If you get the restriction, Riot’s support page says to follow the exact checklist shown in the error message, and it warns that changing BIOS settings can be risky if you do not know what you are doing. Riot recommends using your motherboard maker’s official guides for BIOS updates and related settings like Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and IOMMU.
