Apex Legends hack leaves fans worried about playing the game

Bold hacking attack during competitive event

Update (March 20, 2024, 10:22am CET): Respawn Entertainment issued an official statement following the Apex Legends hack at the game's North American finals, which made fans worry about the security of the game.

Acknowledging what happened, the developer outlined the measures it was taking to respond to the attack: "Our teams have deployed the first of a layered series of updates to protect the Apex Legends players community and create a secure experience for everyone."

An update from the @PlayApex team: pic.twitter.com/fuwKYmHFVP

— Respawn (@Respawn) March 20, 2024

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Original (March 19, 2024, 10:48am CET): The Apex Legends fandom is in an uproar after a bold hacking attack on the live proceedings led to a delay of a competitive event. This brazen display of security weaknesses during a broadcast to a global audience has shaken the confidence of players in the battle royale’s safety systems – no one knows if playing the game is even safe at the moment.

Respawn Entertainment or Electronic Arts have yet to make a statement regarding the situation, but both Easy Anti-Cheat and the Epic Online Service have declared that their investigations into the matter found no evidence for a gap in the anti-cheat system.

“We have investigated recent reports of a potential RCE issue within Easy Anti-Cheat. At this time - we are confident that there is no RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow up support needed,” the company said in its first social media post since May 2019.

Spiky fireballs are the least problem the Apex Legends community is facing at the moment / Respawn Entertainment

“We have investigated recent reports of a potential RCE issue in Apex Legends, which we have confirmed to be unrelated to Easy Anti-Cheat. We are confident THERE IS NO RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited,” the Epic Online Service echoed the statement.

These statements were made in reaction to a group calling itself Anti-Cheat Police Department suggesting that the hack was made possible by a RCE vulnerability.

During the ongoing finals of Apex Legends’ North American circuit, which is being played online and not from an offline stage, several players got hacked mid-game. Affected pros got thrown around the map or received the unwelcome assistance of aimbots – obviously, the match was interrupted when these events happened, as competitive integrity could no longer be guaranteed. Some pros even got their accounts banned in the aftermath of the disaster.

“Due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time. We will share more information soon,” the official account for competitive Apex Legends explained the decision.

Apex Legends players have been vocal about a need to move against hackers and cheaters for a while now, getting fed up with what they perceive as lax countermeasures. It’s even possible that this high-profile attack was designed to bring further attention to the hacking epidemic and the need for action by the developers. As it stands, there is no explanation yet on how this all was allowed to happen – only one thing is certain: Attacks on a live tournament on this scale have never happened before in the history of competitive gaming.

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