The head of the anti-cheat division at Riot Games, Phillip Koskinas, has explained the reason players are unable to run both Battlefield 6 and Valorant simultaneously. The issue arises from a conflict between EA’s Javelin anti-cheat system and Riot’s Vanguard anti-cheat.

In a post shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), Koskinas clarified, “Vanguard and Javelin can coexist, and there’s no need to uninstall one to use the other. However, Battlefield 6 currently does not allow the Valorant client to run at the same time, as both systems attempt to secure game memory regions using the same method.”

In simpler terms, both games operate by utilizing specific methods to manage game memory. When they interact at the kernel level, they can identify each other as potential threats, leading to compatibility issues.

The discussion regarding the conflicts between Javelin and Vanguard emerged following several reports during the open beta weekend for Battlefield 6, where players encountered error messages preventing them from enjoying the highly anticipated shooter while Valorant was active. Although uninstalling Valorant is not necessary to participate in the second open beta of Battlefield 6, it is advisable to ensure that the game is completely closed beforehand.

The implementation of deep-access kernel-level anti-cheat systems in games like Battlefield 6 is understandable. EA indicated that Javelin successfully detected over 330,000 cheating attempts during its initial weekend. This number was recorded during what EA has labeled as the largest open beta event in the Battlefield series.

For now, resolving this issue seems straightforward for those eager to dive into Battlefield 6. However, given the specialized nature of the anti-cheat systems in use, significant changes to either Javelin or Vanguard appear unlikely, especially considering the small number of players who would want to run both games at the same time. As kernel-level anti-cheats continue to gain prevalence, monitoring these sorts of conflicts will be important moving forward.