Games as a service eventually have to stop giving official support to certain versions of it. Normally, when a version of a certain operating system is no longer profitable, or in this case of Valorant, when keeping them is a security hole in versions of Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.
It's somewhat ironic that Valorant's kernel-level anti-cheat is itself a security flaw, just like Genshin Impact's . In any case, it's this security issue that will lead to Valorant ceasing updates on certain versions of Windows, several of which are no longer sold, thus affecting users who haven't yet updated.
Valorant stops updating on old versions of Windows
Valorant uses Riot Games' controversial Vanguard security software , and removing support for older operating systems will likely allow them to take more drastic measures against cheaters within the game. Since Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 lack official support from Microsoft, these three legacy operating systems are becoming increasingly easy to exploit as hackers discover new ways to take advantage of their vulnerabilities. None of these operating systems receive security updates, and most players have already upgraded to Windows 10 or Windows 11. But there are always a few players who, for financial reasons, cannot upgrade, whether due to a Windows license or not meeting the upgrade requirements—one of the problems with Windows 11 being its requirements.
If you're currently using one of these older operating systems to play Valorant, you can continue playing by upgrading your PC to Windows 10. A PC might not be compatible with Windows 11 if it's currently running Windows 8.1 or an even older operating system, but since Windows 100 is compatible, you'll be able to keep playing Valorant even if your Windows operating system isn't the latest.
Since its release, Valorant's Vanguard security software has faced criticism from security-conscious players . The fact that the anti-cheat software uses kernel-level access is a concern, which we've discussed here before. These elevated privileges allow the software to access almost the entire system. Riot Games claims this is a requirement for a modern anti-cheat system, but many players are uneasy about this configuration. The rationale behind this level of access is that most cheat programs use similar access levels.
