On the Xbox servers of Apex Legends, two Apex Predators have now been banned. They were caught manipulating a ranked match using unfair means, causing server problems.
What are Apex Predators? They are the top players based on rankings. This includes the top 750 players on their respective platform. At the time of the allegations, the affected players were ranked 6th and 4th, making them part of the top 10 players on the Xbox servers of Apex Legends.
What happened? Recently, a video circulated on the Apex Legends subreddit that caused a stir. Players accuse two Apex Predators of performing DDoS attacks on the Xbox servers to easily win ranked matches.
It is not the first time that Apex has problems with hackers and cheaters. Back in March 2019, former Twitch streamer Dr. Disrespect noted that Apex Legends has a hacker problem.
DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service. During an attack, servers are bombarded with millions of bots generating so much data trash that they get stuck or are even brought to their knees.
Apex bans 4th and 6th in the Xbox ranking for attacking servers
The Respawn security staff member Conor Fords (nickname “Hideouts”) has already reacted under the reddit post and banned the unnamed players. You can see the reason for this in the video from Loloshooter.
There, you can see how suddenly the server connection is interrupted in the middle of the match. Back in the match, the culprits suddenly stand before the defenseless player and can easily get the kill.
The player writes: “Undeniable proof that the 4th and 6th Xbox preds are DDoSing the servers after we took them down. […] – Ranked on console is literally unplayable with DDoS attacks in 5 out of 6 predator lobbies.”
How players are reacting to the video: Some players are hoping for broader consequences in addition to the bans. For example, user karp_490 calls for legal action against the perpetrators (via reddit). A DDoS attack violates laws: “That is a federal crime. They should be prosecuted.” Others call for similarly harsh consequences. A ban would not be enough since Apex is free and one can simply create a new account.
These are the consequences: In addition to the bans, they announce on Twitter that they will now tackle the DDoS problem on consoles: “The reckoning for DDoS users and builders on consoles is coming. You can’t hide from it.”
How exactly these consequences will look was not disclosed so far. We will keep you updated on this.
Are cheaters a problem on consoles? On Twitter, there are numerous complaints under the post by developer Hideout. NiceWigg writes, for example: “This needs to be solved soon, I am tired of playing with a ping of 250, just to then play the game on another server. Having North America as a region [server] doesn’t help at all right now.”
Have you also experienced such problems in Apex Legends? Let us know in the comments.
