Apex Legends eSports Postpones Tournament Following Hacking Claims

Jace Dela Cruz, Tech Times 19 March 2024, 04:03 am

According to an AFP report, the Apex Legends Global Series eSports tournament faced a major setback as organizers postponed the event due to alleged hacking incidents involving two participants during the North American (NA) finals.

"Due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time," the official account of the Apex Legends eSports announced in a post on X.

EXP Invitational - Apex Legends at X Games Minneapolis — MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 02: Aceu of Team NRG competes during the EXP Invitational-Apex Legends at X Games 2019 Minneapolis at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 02, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Apex Legends Global Series eSports Cancels its North American Finals

The highly popular shooter game, developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, made the announcement via social media, citing concerns about the integrity of the competition following reports of unauthorized cheat hacks being utilized by professional players.

The decision to delay the NA finals was prompted by the apparent compromise of the series' competitive integrity. Apex Legends eSports communicated this development through their official channels, indicating a commitment to provide further updates as the situation unfolded.

Pro players ImperialHal and Genburten took to social media to share video clips illustrating their experiences of being subjected to hacking and receiving cheat tools involuntarily during their gameplay. It must be noted that such items are strictly prohibited in eSports competitions and could lead to disciplinary actions if exploited.

One of the illicit programs enabled players to gain an unfair advantage by utilizing a wallhack, which revealed the positions of opponents on maps, even when they should have been concealed behind obstacles, as per AFP's report.

Another cheat mechanism, known as aimbot, facilitated the automatic targeting of other players without requiring precise aiming from the user.

Easy-Anti Cheat

Following concerns raised by players about the potential compromise of Easy-Anti Cheat (EAC), the protective software used in the game, the EAC team addressed the issue, asserting that they had conducted an investigation and found no evidence of a remote code execution vulnerability being exploited within EAC.

In response to the reported hacks, the Anti-Cheat Police Department, a volunteer group dedicated to combating online hacking, expressed uncertainty regarding the source of the vulnerability, highlighting the need for further investigation to ascertain whether it originated within the game, player devices, or the anti-cheat measures themselves.

The group cautioned against engaging in any games protected by EAC or Electronic Arts titles until the relevant authorities resolved or clarified the situation.

This incident adds to recent challenges faced by Electronic Arts, which announced significant layoffs last month and decided to cancel a planned Star Wars shooter game, underscoring the complexities and uncertainties inherent in the gaming industry.

The workforce reductions constitute around 5% of Electronic Arts' entire staff and form part of a more extensive restructuring effort, which encompasses downsizing office facilities and halting progress on select video game endeavors.