Respawn praised as Apex Legends ban wave takes out nearly 1,000 Predator accounts

Apex Legends players are delighted after Respawn confirmed that a recent ban wave hit over 1,300 high-level accounts accused of cheating, specifically those in the Arenas who abused a Nintendo Switch exploit.

Despite Apex Legends’ popularity and the backing of gaming juggernaut EA, it has experienced its fair share of cheating issues. Like any multi-platform multiplayer title, there are players who seek to hack and manipulate exploits for their own gain.

One particularly egregious exploit surfaced recently and allowed players in Ranked Arenas to ‘six-man’.

As it sounds, players tricked the game’s team-building mechanics to allow them to join Arena matches alongside players they were teaming and communicating with, thus being able to dictate match outcomes and boost ranks unfairly.

Respawn confirm 1,300 bans for Apex Legends accounts using ‘6-manning’ glitch

It has been a tale of short-lived benefits for the players involved, though, with Respawn Hideouts confirming the bans of over 1,300 accounts for such violations.

He tweeted: “Ban wave of 1307 users has been dealt out for exploiting Arenas Ranked and “6-manning”. Bans range from permanent to 2 weeks depending on abuse amount. Breakdown is as follows: PC – 392, PS – 520, Switch – 20, XB – 375.”

In a follow up, Hideouts confirmed that of the 1,307 accounts banned, 925 related specifically to players holding the prestigious Apex Predator rank. The breakdown was as follows: PC – 293, PS – 372, XB – 243 and Switch – 17.

As a result, Hideouts said: “leaderboards have been purged.”

Responses from the community were, understandably, overwhelmingly positive. One player said: “Good job Hideout! Ban all the boosting.”

Naturally, there’s still a long way to go before Apex Legends is as cheat-free as possible. 1,300 cheaters punished is a major step in the right direction.