Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind the surprise Battle Royale hit Apex Legends, has banned over 355,000 cheaters on the PC version of the game, as it continues the “ongoing war” against them.
In a post on the game’s official sub-Reddit, Respawn community manager Jay Frechette discussed the studio’s stance against cheating in Apex Legends. He mentions that the Easy-Anti-Cheat service has helped in the fight against cheaters, but the studio will continue to adapt and stay vigilant.
“We take cheating very seriously and care deeply about the health of Apex Legends for all players,” Frechette wrote.
Frechette mentioned that it is working on improvements that will help fight against cheating, but the studio has chosen to keep the plans secret for now so that it will be one step ahead of cheaters. The community manager shared that it is working with experts, both within and outside publisher Electronic Arts, to learn more on how to handle the issue.
Frechette also noted that Respawn will soon add an in-game report feature on the PC version of Apex Legends that connects directly to Easy-Anti-Cheat, which should make it easier to track down and ban cheaters. The studio is also expanding its anti-cheat team to dedicate more resources to addressing the problem. There was no mention that the reporting system will arrive to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but the feature should eventually find its way to consoles.
Currently, players may report cheaters that they encounter through a process that involves going to the Electronic Arts website and filling out a form. The reports will likely go up in number to help Respawn snag more cheaters once an in-game option, such as what is seen in many online titles, is implemented.
In the first two weeks of Apex Legends, Respawn revealed that it had already banned more than 16,000 cheaters, in a Reddit post that called for the community to capture proof and report players using cheats.
Cheating degrades the overall experience, especially for legitimate players who want to enjoy the Battle Royale shooter. While cheating is not yet as prevalent in Apex Legends as in other games, it is good to know that Respawn is already moving to keep the problem from getting worse.
