Esports tournament platform FACEIT has announced that players will be required to use Windows 11 to participate in matches.
This is the final phase of the platform’s anti-cheat efforts that aim to prevent cheaters from participating in matchmaking and official matches.
Announced on October 29th, all FACEIT players will be required to use Windows 11 from October 14th, 2026. The date aligns with the end of Microsoft‘s extended security update schedule for the operating system.
In addition to ending Windows 10 support, FACEIT has introduced two other requirements for players to use the platform.
From November 25th, TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot must be activated for all players. According to the platform, ‘more than 95%’ of players have already enabled the two features.
The final part of the anti-cheat measures involves players enabling IOMMU and VBS on their PCs. The setting has been a mandatory requirement for all players who have an ELO rating of over 3,000 since August. From November, another rollout will take place.
“We understand that enabling these requirements can be a real hassle for our players,” said FACEIT. “However, we believe the universal implementation of these security measures is an important step for the greater good of the whole competitive ecosystem.”
FACEIT In 2025
Throughout the year, FACEIT has continued its fight against cheaters to create a level playing field across matchmaking and official matches taking place on its platform.
In addition to implementing anti-cheat measures for all players, the platform continues to embark on initiatives to preserve integrity across its high-profile Counter-Strike circuits. In October, FACEIT cleared upcoming talent ‘nocries’ of any integrity breaches, inviting him to compete in its in-house FPL circuit.
With FACEIT leading the charge in implementing measures to crack down on hackers from appearing in matches, the change to Windows 11 is another step in creating a fair environment for players to compete in.
