'We have not confirmed any instance of Vanguard bricking anyone's hardware' following its League of Legends rollout, Riot says, but there are definitely problems for some players

GamesMOBALeague of Legends’We have not confirmed any instance of Vanguard bricking anyone’s hardware' following its League of Legends rollout, Riot says, but there are definitely problems for some playersWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Riot Games)

Darius - an armoured warrior with a huge greataxe.

In response to multiple complaints of hardware failure following the rollout of its Vanguard anti-cheat software toLeague of Legends, Riot Games says it has “not confirmed any instance of Vanguard bricking anyone’s hardware” but acknowledged that some BIOS settings could be causing headaches for a small number of players.

Thecontroversial Vanguard anti-cheat softwarehas been live in Riot’s shooter Valorant since the game launched in 2020, but it didn’t come to League of Legends until earlier this week, as part of the 14.9 patch. Reports of serious trouble quickly followed: Players said their PCs were crashing, stuck in reboot loops, and in some cases “bricked”—rendered completely inoperable—following the update.

In response to the complaints, Riot said onRedditthat “overall, the rollout has gone well,” and that “fewer than 0.03% of players have reported issues with Vanguard.” It also said that after resolving “a few of the major threads” about PCs being bricked, it has confirmed that Vanguard wasn’t actually the cause.

Complaints about hardware being bricked are a rare occurrence that arises from a couple of very specific scenarios, according to Riot. Many motherboard manufacturers prompt users to switch to UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) mode when TPM 2.0 is enabled, but if your Windows 11 install is on an MBR (Master Boot Record) partition, it will not boot when that switch is made: To support UEFI mode, Windows 11 must be installed on a GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition. The good news is, Microsoft offers afree toolthat will convert MBR disks to GPT in most cases without requiring a reformat.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

There’s also an issue with Secure Boot, a technology meant to ensure that unvalidated software and firmware won’t load. Vanguard uses the Secure Boot feature for Valorant but Riot opted not to enable it for Vanguard in League, because so many players of that game have older PCs (don’t forget, League has been around since 2009) which have Secure Boot compatibility problems.

As an example, Riot said that if a GPU’s option ROM isn’t signed, enabling Secure Boot—as at least one player apparently did—will prevent it from rendering anything. If that happens, the only solutions are to connect your monitor to your integrated graphics card (if you have one) and then disable Secure Boot in the BIOS, or to pull your CMOS battery in order to reset everything back to default settings.

As an old-timer this all has a very “yes, PC gaming” vibe to it, but for anyone not familiar with the joys of wrangling jumpers to avoid IRQ conflicts (ie., most people), it’s a very real roadblock (and annoyance) to run into one of these issues. Finding solutions is a challenge in itself, especially if your PC isn’t working, and even when potential fixes are found, fiddling with BIOS settings and yoinking CMOS batteries aren’t things that everyone is going to be comfortable doing. As one redditor put it in response to Riot’s guidance, “Holy hell, how is a regular player supposed to understand this?”

(Image credit: LSXYZ9 (Twitter))

Update: after taking out CMOS battery and resetting battery was able to finally get into BIOS and fix PC w/ Vanguard running (you need UEFI and TPM2.0 both enabled in BIOS or your PC wont load). Other computer still bricked though.

And there’s apparently no intention of walking it back. In response to a player who said their only option to continue playing League is to either downgrade to Windows 10 or buy a whole new PC, Riot said simply, “It is required to have TPM 2.0 enabled on Windows 11.”

As for why Riot has opted to add a new and very unpopular anti-cheat technology to a 15-year-old game, the studio said in the pre-release blog post that while League “is a fairly secure videogame,” scripting is a persistent problem: Globally, 1 in 15 games were found to have a botter or scripter in it in recent months, and Riot said that percentage is much higher in some regions.

“I know it’s hard to be delighted about new anti-cheat, but this is the hardest part. It’s only up and to the right from here.” Well, for most players, anyway.

In the same thread, Riot said Vanguard “does not take a screenshot of your whole computer/multiple monitors,” although it will take a shot of game clients “for suspicious activity related to ESP hacks,” something it said almost all anti-cheat software does and that’s in full compliance with regional privacy laws.

I’ve reached out to Riot for more information on how it aims to address these problems going forward and will update if I receive a reply.

TOPICSRiot Games

TOPICS

More about moba

Vindicta standing next to a shop

Mel from Arcane stares, contemplatively, in a new trailer for Season 1 of League of Legends 2025.

League of Legends' new season trailer is basically an epilogue to Arcane with 6 new Fortiche champion redesigns in it—so if it’s not a preview of the upcoming Noxus show, I’ll eat my hat

LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10See more latest►

Latest

Today’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10

Today’s Wordle being played on a phone

Today’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10

See more latest►

Most PopularTrack down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planetOld meets new as classic MMO players worship a famous Vtuber via gifts of bones so she can max out the Prayer skillHyper Light Breaker will cost $30 and for a limited time come with a free copy of DrifterFallout season 2 filming delayed due to massive LA firesAssassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed again ‘to better incorporate player feedback gathered over the past three months’The Freewrite Wordrunner with a built-in word counter might be the keyboard to look out for if you want to improve your writing process’I created it, let me move on’: Ex-Cloud 9 player, the Overwatch team whose blunder inspired the infamous ‘C9’ slang, watches in horror as the term moves onto Marvel RivalsLenovo’s rollable laptop screen isn’t just a CES party trick—you’ll be able to pick one up yourself in JuneNvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang’s simple reminder that useful quantum computing is a long way off has somehow caused industry stocks to plummetAfter 15 years, Minecraft has finally added two new pig variations: The warm pig and the cold pig, meaning I can delete one mod off my listIf you love a big laptop without a big price tag, this RTX 4070 17.3-incher is an ideal pick at $1,300

Most Popular

Track down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planet

Old meets new as classic MMO players worship a famous Vtuber via gifts of bones so she can max out the Prayer skill

Hyper Light Breaker will cost $30 and for a limited time come with a free copy of Drifter

Fallout season 2 filming delayed due to massive LA fires

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed again ‘to better incorporate player feedback gathered over the past three months’

The Freewrite Wordrunner with a built-in word counter might be the keyboard to look out for if you want to improve your writing process

‘I created it, let me move on’: Ex-Cloud 9 player, the Overwatch team whose blunder inspired the infamous ‘C9’ slang, watches in horror as the term moves onto Marvel Rivals

Lenovo’s rollable laptop screen isn’t just a CES party trick—you’ll be able to pick one up yourself in June

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang’s simple reminder that useful quantum computing is a long way off has somehow caused industry stocks to plummet

After 15 years, Minecraft has finally added two new pig variations: The warm pig and the cold pig, meaning I can delete one mod off my list

If you love a big laptop without a big price tag, this RTX 4070 17.3-incher is an ideal pick at $1,300

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals