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Respawn swings banhammer on Apex Legends cheaters

Respawn Entertainment has issued bans against players exploiting bugs in Apex Legends, as the developer maintains its commitment to keep an even playing field in the battle royale shooter.

The latest swing of the banhammer against Apex Legends cheaters was reported by a Conor Ford, a member of Respawn’s security team, as players took to social media after receiving a week-long suspension from the game.

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To those who exploited going under the map for easy wins and PS4 players who exploited an issue to rejoin ranked matches after dying to get higher placement and free RP, justice was served today. GGs. ????

— Conor Ford / Hideouts (@RSPN_Hideouts) September 18, 2020

The bans focused on players exploiting two specific issues, namely a bug that allows players to go under the map where they can wait for all other teams to die, and a glitch that allowed PlayStation 4 players to return to ranked matches after they died for higher placement and free Ranked Points.

The bans handed out should serve as a reminder that exploiting bugs to gain an unfair advantage over other players is no different from installing cheating software. Respawn has not relented on its crackdown against Apex Legends cheaters since the battle royale shooter was released in February 2019.

Apex Legends rejuvenated amid pandemic

Between the May 12 launch of season 5 and the end of publisher Electronic Arts’ fiscal quarter on June 30, Apex Legends tallied the highest player engagement since season 1, showing a revived interest in the battle royale shooter amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Respawn has since released Apex Legends season 6, which introduced crafting through Replicated scattered across the map, the new energy-based SMG named Volt that is actually from Titanfall 2, map changes such as the dismantling of the train on World’s Edge, and Rampart as the new legend with a mounted minigun as her ultimate skill.

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