In Apex Legends there have been some issues with the playlists due to hacker attacks. Also, strange messages appeared in the game that looked official but are not. These have the headline: “SAVETITANFALL” – Save Titanfall. MeinMMO shows you what’s behind the incident.
What’s going on? The attack occurred yesterday and caused anger among Apex players. These attacks changed, for example, the descriptions and titles of the shooter’s in-game playlists.
There were also various messages that made the hackers’ messages pop up. It said among other things: “TF1 is being attacked, so Apex will be too.” The website “SAFETITANFALL” is promoted through this. The hacker attack is clearly related to Titanfall.
Part of the attack also seems to have been a DDoS attack; some players were unable to play for a while.
What’s the connection? Titanfall 1 and 2 come from the same developer, Respawn Entertainment. The first part was released in 2014, and Titanfall 2 came out in 2016. Both games have many fans and they also have one more thing in common with Apex Legends: They are set in the same universe.
Despite their age, both multiplayer shooters still have an online fan base. If it weren’t for this persistent hacker problem that the PC version of both games has been experiencing for quite some time.
DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service. In an attack, servers are bombarded with so much data junk by millions of bots that they become unresponsive or are brought to their knees.
Do hackers want to destroy Titanfall 1 and 2?
What’s going on with Titanfall? While Titanfall 2 is not as severely affected by the problem, the situation in Titanfall 1 has been pretty bad for a while. In 2019, it became known that a hacker is wreaking havoc in the multiplayer of both shooters. It is unknown if it is the same hacker today or if others are involved by now.
It is assumed that it is a single individual. It is unclear where this information comes from. The responsible person is still ruining the fun for the remaining player base and making the online modes nearly unplayable.
- The hacker(s) exploit vulnerabilities and use scripts to fill sessions with bots.
- As a result, it is impossible for many players to find a session in the player search.
- The hackers even prevent the creation of private sessions.
- Currently, it is impossible to start a multiplayer match.
Respawn reported at the time when the problems became known that they would address it and look for a solution. But now, in 2021, the situation apparently has not improved.
What’s up with Titanfall 2? Apparently, there are also increasing problems here and the attacks are on the rise. Presumably, the same attacker who targeted the first part is also behind this. At least that is what YouTuber Upper Echelon Gamers suggests in his video:
Titanfall 2 is significantly more popular than its predecessor, but the attacker(s) have apparently targeted popular streamers in recent weeks and sabotaged their matches with DDoS attacks.
In the video, the YouTuber suspects that it is the same attacker or attackers. He also suspects that due to the various methods, it must be a particularly skilled hacker who wants to “destroy” the entire Titanfall franchise.
The topic has been widely discussed in the community, but Respawn and EA have remained inactive. Now the attack on Apex Legends has followed.
Hacker action in Apex to raise awareness of Titanfall situation
What does the Apex hacker want? The hackers’ criticism in Apex Legends is not only directed against the state of the game. Another point is that the Titanfall games have repeatedly been part of discount promotions over the past two years. They are continuing to market an unplayable game.
Attempts to contact often get cancelled or ignored when the topic is Titanfall. On the established website, which was spread via the spam messages in the game, the author of the attack writes:
Respawn and Electronic Arts have the resources to fix these problems but do not, and knowingly continue to sell a game that does not work as advertised and does not work at all.
via savetitanfall.com
The website also links to other articles that have dealt with the topic in recent years. This includes numerous gaming sites, reddit posts, and support requests. There is also a detailed analysis of the methods used by the hackers to attack the game.
The action has clearly had its effect, as nearly every active player in Apex has probably heard of it. Numerous reactions are already visible on reddit and Twitter, with even a staff member from Destiny developer Bungie commenting on it.
Much support for action, but not everyone is enthusiastic
Here are the reactions to the hacker attack: You can clearly see how frustrated the Titanfall community is due to the situation. The action in Apex Legends is receiving a lot of support on both Twitter and the subreddit.
- Kamina tinoudi (via Twitter) – “I agree with this person, TF1 and TF2 are great and need to be fixed. Just because they are old doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be protected because people still pay.”
- Dimitrios (via Twitter) – “If a game is unplayable, it shouldn’t be sold. If it is sold, it should be playable. If it is still on sale and unplayable, it should be repaired. If the fix takes forever (or literally years), it is absolutely moral for players to seek to bring about change more directly.”
- Caltroop2480 (via reddit) – “The absolutely incredible thing about all of this is not that Titanfall has been unplayable for months, but that EA made the decision to offer the game in sales multiple times even though they knew new players couldn’t even play it.”
- MichaelBugless (via reddit) – “Even if the player count [for Titanfall 1] was ridiculously low: When you try to queue, it searches for a server forever and since it is only online multiplayer, it simply cannot be played by anyone. They should really just stop selling it if it cannot really be played.”
However, there are also critics. Many players do not find it justified to raise awareness of the Titanfall situation using the same methods.
- pegasus (via Twitter) – “I can’t even get to the shooting range; this person is only ruining the game for others.”
- Finn (via Twitter) – “I hope Respawn shuts down the Titanfall servers as a punishment. TF2 is and will always be my favorite game, but how can you attack another game and make it unplayable to protest for your own game that has been hacked. Hypocrisy and just childish.”
- DanOfRivia (via reddit) – “Preventing other players from playing because they can’t play TF is not the right way; they are punishing the players.”
- jakbutt (via reddit) – “Ruined my day. Finally had some time to play and after weeks finally pulled the trigger to buy the ‘ultimate bundle’ to unlock all characters. I could play two games before I got kicked out.”
Community Manager dmg04 at Destiny developer Bungie also commented on Twitter about the incident. In his post, he describes hackers as poison and sympathizes with the developers who have to spend a lot of time resolving such issues.
He also states, “An exemplary case of toxic passion. If you attack developers and studios that make the games you love, you will never be able to enforce your point of view.”
The latest attack now also raises concerns among numerous players about whether Respawn has a general security problem. Because Apex Legends is also constantly plagued by hacker attacks, even before this latest example. A few months ago, two of the top 10 players of Apex were banned for launching DDoS attacks during matches.
How does it look now in Apex Legends? Apparently, Respawn has managed to resolve the issues, and most servers should be back up and running. However, it took several hours before things resumed. (via apexlegendsstatus.com)
Whether the action will ultimately lead to an improvement in the situation in the Titanfall games remains to be seen. There has been no statement on this yet, neither from EA nor from Respawn. We will keep you updated on the topic.
But what do you think of the debate? Is the hacker attack justified, or do you see it as the wrong way to raise awareness of such issues? Discuss with us in the comments!
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