Fortnite's new system requirements for 2025: TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot enabled

Epic Games, the developer of the popular game Fortnite , has announced significant changes to the game's technical infrastructure on PCs, a move aimed at enhancing fairness in digital competitions. Starting February 19th, Windows users will be required to activate advanced security protocols including Secure Boot , TPM 2.0 , and IOMMU , a step that may pose a challenge for owners of older computers.

Context of the fight against electronic fraud

This move didn't come out of nowhere; it's the result of a long-standing struggle between game developers and cheat software creators. Historically, games relied on traditional anti-cheat programs that operated as a software layer on top of the operating system, such as Easy Anti-Cheat. However, cheating methods have evolved to become more sophisticated, with hackers beginning to use hardware-level tools, also known as DMA (Direct Memory Access), which allow them to read and manipulate game memory without being detected by the operating system or traditional security software.

This dangerous development has prompted major gaming companies to seek radical solutions. Valorant the first to enforce TPM 2.0 on Windows 11, and today Fortnite joins this effort to ensure a fair gaming environment free of hackers.

What technologies are required and why are they important?

The new updates require the activation of three key technologies:

• TPM 2.0: A security chip that stores encryption keys and checks the integrity of the system before booting, preventing malicious software from running in the background.
• Secure Boot: A feature that ensures that the computer loads only trusted and digitally signed software at startup.
• IOMMU: A technology that manages how peripheral devices access system memory, and is the first line of defense against external cheating devices that attempt to read the memory directly.

Expected impact and future of competitive games

Globally, this decision marks a turning point in esports standards. As gaming has become a multi-billion dollar industry, fair competition is now non-negotiable. While Epic Games has stated that 95% of players already have compatible hardware (particularly Windows 11 users), this decision may force the remaining percentage to upgrade their hardware or modify complex BIOS settings, potentially causing temporary disruption.

More competitive games are expected to follow the lead of Fortnite and Call of Duty in the near future, making these advanced security standards the “new normal” in the world of PC gaming, and putting an end to the era of simple software cheating.