Apex Legends Esports Final Postponed Due to Hack Allegations
The North American esports final of the popular online shooter game Apex Legends has been postponed due to allegations of hacking. Clips shared by players depicted instances of cheat modes being activated during matches, causing distress among participants.
Organizers of the official regional tournament announced that the “competitive integrity” of the competition had been compromised, but have not provided further details regarding the incident. BBC Newsbeat has reached out to publisher Electronic Arts (EA) for comment.
Several prominent Apex Legends players, including Genburten and ImperialHal, posted clips showing cheats being injected into their games. Genburten encountered a “wallhack,” which reveals the location of other players, while Hal was subjected to an aimbot, automatically targeting opponents. Such cheats are strictly prohibited in major esports competitions and can lead to bans for those who use them.
In response, players affected by the hacks promptly announced the intrusion and were encouraged by others to exit the game. The Anti-Cheat Police Department, a volunteer group combating cheating in online games, suggested that hackers may have exploited a vulnerability allowing them to access players’ machines. This vulnerability, known as remote code execution (RCE), may exist in the game itself or in specialized anti-cheating software.
The group cautioned players against participating in games protected by Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) or any EA titles until the issue is addressed. Additionally, they advised participants in the Global Series tournament to change passwords on Discord and enable two-factor authentication on other accounts as a precaution.
Although regular players have expressed concern about the safety of their own machines, there has been no official confirmation of this. In response to suspicions that Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) software may have been compromised, the developers stated that they had investigated reports of a potential issue and confirmed that there is currently no RCE vulnerability being exploited within EAC.
Apex Legends, a free-to-play battle royale shooter developed by Respawn Entertainment, has been a major competitor to games like Fortnite since its launch five years ago. However, EA recently announced the cancellation of a Star Wars-themed first-person shooter developed by Respawn, alongside plans to lay off 670 workers across the company.
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