TL;DR: League of Legends' kernel-level anticheat (Vanguard) has no Linux support, forcing Linux users to dual-boot or abandon the game entirely. We're asking Riot Games to build a solution, official Linux support or a less invasive anticheat, so the game works without giving up our OS of choice.

I've been playing League of Legends for years – it's one of the few games I've stuck with for many years. I use Linux not out of stubbornness, but because it's the more stable, more transparent system for me. That same appreciation for transparency is exactly why I haven't been able to play League on my main system since Vanguard was introduced.

Vanguard is a kernel-level anticheat. That means it runs with the highest privileges an operating system can grant, starting before you even log in, with access to nearly everything happening on the machine. Under Windows, that might be an acceptable trade-off. Under Linux, there's currently no support for it at all, which means Linux users like me are completely locked out of League. If you don't want to dual-boot or keep a second Windows install around, you simply can't play anymore.

What bothers me most: software with this level of system access massively increases the attack surface. A bug or vulnerability in a kernel-level component doesn't just affect the game, it potentially affects the entire system. That's not a theoretical concern from outsiders; it's a view shared by a lot of people in the IT security community.

I want to be clear: I'm not questioning the purpose of Vanguard. Cheating is a real problem, and Riot Games has a legitimate interest in ensuring fair matches. This isn't about getting rid of anticheat, it's about making sure it isn't the only option, at the cost of user freedom. Other competitive games show that anticheat can work without kernel access, or at least with proper Linux support.

That's why I'm asking Riot Games to develop a solution that makes League of Legends accessible to Linux users again, whether that's an official Linux version of Vanguard, as has been floated for other Riot titles, or an alternative form of protection that doesn't require this level of system access.

If you'd rather play on your own system without installing a second OS just for one game, please sign this petition. Together we can show Riot that we're not a tiny edge case, but a growing number of players who want to play League of Legends regardless of which operating system they use.