5 Ways to Fix the “Your Game Requires a System Restart to Play” Valorant Error

Many Valorant players have encountered an error message that says, “Your game requires a system restart to play.” One player said this about that gaming issue on Reddit, “Even when I restart my computer and go to the game I want to play, which is Valorant, it says ‘your game requires a system restart to play.’” That error message appears within Riot Games, and players can’t play Valorant when it occurs. This is how you can fix the “Your game requires a system restart to play” Valorant error on a Windows 11/10 PC.

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Set Valorant to Run as Administrator

First, set your Valorant game to run with administrator rights. Doing this will give the game full permission to run all required services. You can set Valorant to run with elevated privileges like this.

1. Right-click your Valorant shortcut on the Windows desktop to select its Properties option.
2. Click Compatibility to select Run this program as an administrator within that tab.
3. Save the selected compatibility by clicking Apply.
   
   

   The Compatibility tab

4. Click OK to close the properties window for your Valorant shortcut.

Enable Vgtray in the Startup Tab

Vgtray is a component of the Riot Vanguard anti-cheat software required to play Valorant. Some players may need to enable the Vgtray startup item to fix the “Your game requires a system restart to play” Valorant error. This is how you can enable Vgtray in the Startup tab.

1. To view Task Manager, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
2. Click Startup to view the items on that tab.
3. Select vgray and click Enable if that item is disabled.
   
   

   The vgtray startup item

4. Restart Windows and try playing Valorant.

Start the VGC Service

VGC is a service that needs to be enabled and running for Valorant’s Vanguard anti-cheat to start. Check that the service is running and start it if it isn’t. You can enable the VGC Vanguard service like this.

1. Press the Windows button + S key, input services, and select the matching result in the search tool.
2. Double-click VGC within the Services window.
   
   

   The Services window

3. Select Automatic within the Startup drop-down menu if that option is set differently.
4. Click Apply to save the configured service settings.
   
   

   The vgc Properties window

5. Exit the vgc service window by selecting OK.

You can also check if vgc is enabled within MSConfig. Type MSConfig into the Windows search box to select System Configuration. Select the vgc checkbox on the Services tab if it’s not selected, and click Apply > OK.

Erase the Vgkbootstatus.dat File

Players confirm erasing the vgkbootstatus.dat file is a way to fix the “Your game requires a system restart to play” Valorant error. Applying this potential resolution can fix a corrupted vgkbootstatus.dat file because it gets recreated when deleted. This is how you can delete that file.

1. Press the Windows key + X and select File Explorer.
2. Input C:\Windows in Explorer’s folder address bar and press Enter.
3. Right-click the vgkbootstatus.dat file and select Delete.

Reinstall the Riot Vanguard Software

Players also say they’ve fixed the “Your game requires a system restart to play” Valorant error by reinstalling Riot Vanguard. Applying this possible solution will likely repair corrupted Vanguard files causing the error to occur. These are the steps for reinstalling Riot Vanguard.

1. Activate the Windows search box, input appwiz.cpl, and click appwiz.cpl to access Programs and Features.
2. Select Riot Vanguard in Programs and Features.
3. Click Uninstall to remove Riot Vanguard.
   
   

   The Programs and Features applet

4. Riot Vanguard will automatically reinstall when you start Valorant.

The potential solutions in this guide will usually fix the “Your game requires a system restart to play” Valorant error. They are troubleshooting methods players have applied and confirmed to work. If more possible fixes are needed, you can submit a help ticket to Valorant’s technical support team from this submission page.