Apex Legends Is Removing a Popular Movement Mechanic

Respawn Entertainment announced on Tuesday plans to remove "tap-strafing" from the game, a movement mechanic utilized at higher levels of play in the battle royale game. The decision to remove tap strafing was announced on Twitter with the developers calling the mechanic "inaccessible" among other things. A more detailed explanation regarding its removal will be provided at a later date whenever the patch notes for Patch 10.1 drop, Respawn said.

If you play on a console without ever delving into cross-platform play between consoles and PCs, there's a good chance you're unfamiliar with tap-strafing or at least haven't had to put much thought into the mechanic. That's because it's a PC-exclusive movement method made possible only by using a mouse and keyboard and rebinding key movement inputs like jumping. For those who do play on PC, however, and those who watch professional streamers and competitors utilize tap-strafing, the decision to remove it is a much more meaningful one.

After much consideration and debate, we've decided to remove tap-strafing from @playapex in patch 10.1.

Our reasoning: It's inaccessible, lacks readability/counterplay, and is exacerbated by movement abilities.

The next patch notes will include a more detailed note about this.

— Respawn (@Respawn) August 31, 2021

Tutorials like the one below show what tap-strafing can look like when utilized properly assuming one is already familiar with air-strafing and bunny-hopping. Tap-strafing makes movements snappier and allow players to pivot quickly in mid-air to either put space between them and aggressors or to throw off predictions.

Respawn's reasoning for removing it so far said that it lacked readability and counterplay and was made worse by the movement abilities built into Apex already. The tutorial above is an example of that by specifically pointing out Horizon as one of the greatest tap-strafing Legends given that she's guaranteed soft landings after pulling off these movements.

Given how its uses are varied in Apex, the decision to remove it from the game has naturally been met with criticisms from those who wished that it would be left alone. It's a skill that people had to learn, some players suggested, and should therefore be left intact to reward those who've mastered it. Others turned the conversation to aim assist, a long-running topic of debate where controllers and cross-platform play are concerned, and asked for that mechanic to be removed.

In Respawn's more detailed explanation of the removal of tap-strafing, it wouldn't be surprising to see esports listed as a factor in the decision. Respawn and Electronic Arts announced this year that the ALGS competitive scene will soon support cross-play between consoles and PCs in competitions. Players will be able to use mouse and keyboard or controllers as they please, but the competitions will use "PC-value aim assist settings." Even with that setting standardized, tap-strafing would still only be available to PC players using mouse and keyboard.

Tap-strafing will be removed from Apex Legends in Patch 10.1, so expect to see that listed in the patch notes along with a more detailed explanation of its removal soon.