Epic Games is adding a new anti-cheat requirement for Fortnite tournaments for PC players, though it’s not something most folks are going to have to worry about. Starting February 19, those who want to play in Fortnite tournaments on PC will have to have IOMMU protection (input-output memory management) enabled, in addition to the previously required SecureBoot and TPM. The good news is that most everyone playing on Windows 11 will already have this enabled, since it’s typically enabled by default on compatible motherboards.
IOMMU, like TPM, is another method to protect against cheaters using hardware cheats, while the Easy Anti-Cheat application handles the software side of things. Note that this new requirement is just for tournaments. IOMMU is not required if you’re just playing casual or ranked Battle Royale with your friends. If you try to play a tournament while IOMMU is off, you won’t be banned–the game simply won’t let you play. Learn about how to enable IOMMU here.
The topic of cheating in Fortnite has been a common one since Epic unbanned past cheaters a year ago to give them a second chance–since then, players on social media often baselessly claim the move has led to a cheating epidemic. Meanwhile, Epic has been taking legal action against cheaters and forcing them to apologize publicly several times over the past year.
