League of Legends players who have long wrestled with the omnipresence of Riot Games’ Vanguard anti-cheat software finally have a reason to breathe a sigh of relief. On June 24th, 2026, developers officially rolled out a highly anticipated ‘on-demand’ mode for Vanguard, addressing one of the community’s longest-standing technical grievances. For years, the kernel-level driver has been infamous for running continuously in the background from the very second a PC boots up. Now, a newly introduced pre-boot security check allows players with modern, highly secure systems to completely disable this always-on state, giving their system tray and system memory a much-needed break when they are not actively queuing up for a match.
▲ Official Cover Art (Source: IGDB)
| Attribute | Detail |
| Feature Name | Vanguard On-Demand Sessions |
| Release Date | June 24th, 2026 |
| Primary Game Impact | League of Legends and Valorant |
| Eligible Hardware | Approximately 35% of player base initially |
| Security Requirements | UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, VBS, HVCI, IOMMU |
| OS Requirement | Windows 11 25H2 or later |
Technical Architecture of the New On-Demand Session
The core mechanic of this system update relies on what has been dubbed a Vanguard Pre-Check. If your computer passes this security assessment, Vanguard’s deep kernel-level driver component will no longer hook into your operating system during your initial system startup. Instead, the driver remains dormant and only launches when you fire up a game that requires active protection, such as Valorant or League of Legends, shutting down immediately when you exit. However, this is not an open door for everyone. Because of the extreme security verification required to trust a kernel driver booting mid-session, only systems that meet stringent modern security architectures can leverage the feature.
According to development data, roughly 35% of the active player base possesses hardware that already meets the Windows 11 secured-core state required to pass Vanguard’s Pre-Check right out of the gate. For the remaining players, enabling this mode requires manual configuration in the BIOS and Windows settings. This includes turning on UEFI mode, Secure Boot, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0, Virtualization-Based Security (VBS), Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI), and Input-Output Memory Management Unit (IOMMU). Furthermore, players must be running Windows 11 25H2 or a later version to qualify for the on-demand feature.
How the League of Legends Community and Legacy Hardware Owners Benefit
The introduction of this feature has sparked massive discussion among the League of Legends player base, particularly regarding system optimization and privacy. Ever since Vanguard was integrated into League of Legends, players have expressed discomfort with a high-privilege kernel driver running during unrelated daily tasks. This update offers a brilliant technical middle ground, allowing privacy-conscious users to keep their operating systems unencumbered without needing to manually disable the service and restart their PCs before every single gaming session.
Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to enjoy this upgrade. Data reveals that approximately 3% of weekly active players are on older legacy hardware that simply cannot meet the Pre-Check security requirements. For these players, upgrading physical components is the only pathway to unlocking on-demand sessions. Otherwise, they must stick with the traditional always-on Vanguard driver. Riot’s head of anti-cheat, Phillip Koskinas, noted that the studio prefers to offer this trust segmentation as a system of incentives rather than strict mandates, keeping it optional for everyone except those playing at the highest competitive ranks or using highly unusual hardware configurations.
▲ Official Artwork (Source: IGDB)
Navigating the Setup Complexity and Future Anti-Cheat Standards
For players eager to activate the on-demand option but lacking the out-of-the-box Windows 11 secured-core state, the process will require some technical BIOS menu tweaking. To assist with this transition, Riot Games has provided comprehensive setup guides in their official Vanguard on-demand announcement. These guides walk users through enabling TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and configuring Microsoft’s security features via the Windows 11 secured-core state documentation. While this represents a high barrier to entry for casual gamers, it establishes an important precedent for how invasive anti-cheat solutions interact with modern operating systems.
By shifting the burden of trust from continuous software monitoring to hardware-enforced pre-boot security mechanisms, developer-level anti-cheats can begin to retreat from constant system surveillance. While this update will not entirely erase the controversies surrounding deep system access, it marks a significant step forward in optimizing the user experience. By trading constant system visibility for built-in OS protection, the gaming landscape moves toward a more secure, less intrusive future where security tools run strictly during active playtime.
League of Legends bridges the gap between hardware-enforced security and player privacy
By shifting the burden of proof to Windows 11 native protection features like TPM 2.0 and virtualization-based security, Vanguard establishes a crucial precedent. It proves that kernel-level anti-cheat software can coexist with user-centric privacy demands, provided players adopt modern hardware standards. This trust-segmentation model could soon become the golden standard across the competitive PC gaming landscape.
Final Pulse Score: 8.5 / 10
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