Respawn Addresses Apex Legends Tournament Hacks in New Update

Respawn pledges to "create a secure experience for everyone."

By Marc Deschamps

On Sunday, two professional players found themselves hacked during the Apex Legends Global Series, giving both an unfair advantage and causing issues with the tournament. Respawn quickly announced the postponement of the North American finals as a result, and promised to share more information soon. At the time, many believed that the issue was related to Easy Anti-Cheat software, though that became increasingly unlikely as no other games seemed to have been impacted. A few days later, Respawn Entertainment has now addressed the hacks in a statement shared to the developer's official Twitter account. 

"On Sunday, a few professional Apex Legends player accounts were hacked during an ALGS event. Game and player security are our highest priorities, which is why we paused the competition to address the issue immediately. Our teams have deployed the first of a layered series of updates to protect the Apex Legends player community and create a secure experience for everyone," the Tweet reads. "Thank you for your patience." 

Is it Safe to Play Apex Legends Right Now?

Unfortunately, that statement hasn't done much to assure the community. Response to the Tweet has been mixed; while some players are happy to have an update, a lot of others have noted that there are no assurances about the current safety of the game. At the end of the day, there are still a lot of questions about how things are being handled, and exactly what took place that caused these hacks. Following the events on Sunday, The Verge senior editor Tom Warren advised people not to play Apex Legends on PC until there are clear answers. Players will have to make that decision for themselves, but no one can be blamed for playing it safe for the time being. 

What Happened at Apex Legends Global Series

Last weekend, professional Apex Legends players Noyan "Genburten" Ozkose and Phillip "ImperialHal" Dosen both found themselves hacked during matches. In the case of Genburton, he was able to see all players on the map. Realizing something was wrong, Genburton quickly dropped out of the match. ImperialHal's hack instead resulted in aimbot being enabled. After identifying the hack, ImperialHal remained in the game, but avoided shooting his opponents. 

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In a recent Twitter post, ImperialHal confirmed that his main account is still banned from Apex Legends, and he's currently using an alt so he can continue to stream on Twitch. It's certainly not an ideal situation, and some have pointed out that he could end up in trouble for avoiding his current ban. Given the circumstances, that would seem very unlikely, and would lead to even more frustration with EA and Respawn over the incident. Hopefully things can get resolved quickly so the game's top players can get their accounts back and people can continue to play with confidence. 

How do you feel about Respawn's comments? Do you think it's safe to play Apex Legends? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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