Error code 38 occurs when players try to launch Valorant but the game is not ready yet because Riot is either shipping an update or the servers are temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance.
As you already guessed, there is nothing that you can really do about it. Just wait until Riot has completed deploying the update and checking the servers.
Scheduled maintenance will be announced beforehand
Rest assured, although not much may seem to be going on, Valorant will get fixed after a while. The only variable is how much time Riot needs to complete the update deployment phase or the server maintenance work.
This might take anything from a few minutes to a couple of hours or even more. Obviously, players will be unable to connect and play Valorant during all this time.
For more information, you can keep an eye on Valorant’s official Twitter account. That’s one of the first places Riot officially informs players about any planned updates or server unavailability periods.
If Riot confirmed all the services are back and everything’s up and running, but you still can’t launch Valorant, restart the game as well as your computer. Additionally, you can also restart your modem, and launch the game as an administrator.
Keep in mind that Valorant cannot run without Vanguard. Open the Task Manager and make sure Vanguard is running. If the service has been stopped, restart it and then launch Valorant.
As you can see, most of the time, error 38 indicates the game servers are temporarily unavailable. But this situation should not last more than a couple of hours and Riot will always inform users about the estimated duration of any scheduled maintenance work on the servers. Once the updates have been deployed, you’ll enjoy an even better Valorant experience.
Happy gaming everyone and enjoy the fun.