How to Fix Valorant Vanguard Not Initialized Error

Valorant is an upcoming free-to-play first-person shooter multiplayer game developed and published by Riot Games. The game is currently in its closed beta version and is expected to be released for Microsoft Windows this summer 2020. Although the game is receiving positive feedback from beta players, it appears that the game already has many bugs and errors. Closed beta players are reporting that the Valorant Vanguard Not Initialized Error appears when launching the game. If you’re also facing the same error, then follow this troubleshooting guide to resolve the issue.

While we can expect the official public release to be much more stable and with fewer bugs, if you’re frequently encountering the said error and want to resolve it, we recommend following the steps below. Vanguard is the Anti-Cheat program for the Valorant game. Therefore, if the Vanguard Anti-Cheat system isn’t loading or initializing, there may be issues with your Vanguard installation or boot-up, or your PC may need a reboot, or your drivers may be outdated.

How to Fix Valorant Vanguard Not Initialized Error

Luckily, there are a couple of methods available that you can try to fix the “Vanguard Not Initialized, Error Code 44” issue on your PC while trying to launch the Valorant game.

It’s worth mentioning that Riot Games has recently released a new patch update for the Valorant game. If you haven’t updated your game to its latest version, it’s highly recommended to this before heading over to any steps. You can update your Valorant from the game launcher. So, let’s jump into the guide below:

1. Quit and Relaunch Valorant

First of all, you will need to close the Valorant game and exit the game launcher. Then restart your PC and try running the game again. Most of the time, rebooting the Windows system and game can fix plenty of issues including Vanguard error.

2. Force Close Riot Vanguard

Make sure that the Riot Vanguard service is fully closed and not running in the background. In order to check that, head over to the system tray icon and click on Exit Vanguard. Additionally, head over to Task Manager and go to Processes > Then check the Riot Vanguard is running or not. If running, then click on it to select and choose End Task. Finally, restart your PC and launch the Valorant game again.