Valorant Enforcing TPM on Windows 11 PCs to Keep Cheaters at Bay

With cheating growing rampant in the first-person shooter e-sports space, the developers behind Valorant have figured out a new way to keep more cheaters at bay. Sourced from @AntiCheatPD on Twitter; e-sports shooter Valorant now requires all PCs running Windows 11 to feature a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Any machines running Windows 11 with TPMs disabled will not be allowed to play the game.

The TPM requirement allows Riot Games, the developers behind Valorant, to ban cheaters' PCs in addition to banning their account and/or IP addresses. This is done through the Trusted Platform Module's burned-in RSA key that cannot be erased or altered. Each RSA key enforces authenticity with its associated device, making sure that Windows and any apps running on the machine know who the system is.

If everything goes according to plan, the new TPM regulations should cause major problems for cheaters who get caught. Cheaters will have to replace either the gaming PC they play on (ouch), or more likely replace important (and expensive) parts such as the CPU or motherboard, so they can get around the ban. It's unclear if switching to a different TPM device would work, but presumably that's not the case.

For now, Riot Games only enforces the TPM requirement on Windows 11 PCs, with no official requirement for Windows 10 just yet. Enforcing TPM on Windows 11 first makes sense with Microsoft already requiring TPM support to run Windows 11 in the first place, with some exceptions.

However, if the new TPM requirements are transitioned over to Windows 10 in the future, this could cause significant problems for users still on older hardware, and potentially kill off some of Valorant's player base.

But the risk might be worth it for Riot Games to ensure cheaters don't change operating systems to get around bans. If this does happen then Valorant will become Windows 10 and 11 exclusives with the TPM requirement enforced on both operating systems.

We'll have to see what Riot Games decides to do, but for now, TPM is a requirement to play Valorant on Windows 11. So be sure your system is Windows 11 ready if you plan to upgrade.