Valorant error code 57 - How to fix the PlayerAffinityInitFailure error


Valorant error code 57 - how to fix the PlayerAffinityInitFailure error
Credit: Riot Games

Not to be confused with the baked beans manufacturer advertising slogan, Valorant error code 57 does not work well with toast.

Valorant, like so many FPS games, is not immune to error codes. It's inevitably frustrating when all your plans for an evening gaming session get thwarted by error codes such as VAL 59, VAN 81, or the annoying error code in question.

We'll run through what this error is, what causes it, and how you might be able to fix it on your PC. So sit back, and soon you'll be back controlling your favourite Agent.

What is error code 57 in Valorant?

Usually, Error Code 57 will appear when you are trying to load the game. Unfortunately, the error message you receive is not particularly illuminating:

PlayerAffinityInitFailure

While this doesn't really give us any clues about what this error is, or what caused it, we do have some answers. According to the game software, this error arises when the Vanguard anti-cheat software has not been initialised properly.

Riot Vanguard is the anti-cheat software for Valorant, and the game simply won't work if the anti-cheat software is not running. For most people, this will simply be a software glitch, rather than a deliberate attempt to circumvent the anti-cheating software. Commonly, this can be caused if your computer is low on RAM. It may then force close Vanguard in order to free up space.

But if for some reason you did tamper with it at all, then you might need to think about uninstalling and then reinstalling both the game and Vanguard.

But for everyone else, is there anything you can try before getting to that point? Let's have a look.

How to fix PlayerAffinityInitFailure Error Code 57 in Valorant

Valorant Error Code 57
click to enlarge
Credit: Riot Games

According to the support pages for Valorant, if you encounter Error Code 57, the first thing to do is to simply try restarting the Riot client. This should ensure that Vanguard starts up again properly, and should enable you to access the game. If this doesn't work, check the Valorant Support Site banners for any known issues.

If restarting the client doesn't work, then you can try restarting your computer. And if you are running out of RAM, then your PC might be closing the Vanguard software. Restarting your computer can free up some space, and hopefully fix this issue.

You can also try uninstalling the Riot Vanguard, and then try to launch the Valorant client. Don't worry, we know the game won't work without Vanguard. But launching the game will trigger it to reinstall Riot Vanguard, which should then work correctly.

Additionally, if you're struggling because of a RAM issue, try shutting down any non-essential background processes to free up some additional RAM. Simply open Task Manager and once you've identified an appropriate program, hit End Task to close it down.

Usually, a simple restart should suffice to fix this particular issue. But if Error Code 57 is refusing to go away, then the final thing to do is submit a support ticket for some extra help.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Gaming page.