Respawn Turns to Hardware ID Bans in War Against Apex Legends Cheaters
Ever since the launch and explosive rise in popularity of Apex Legends, cheating has been a major problem. As such, Respawn have been actively going after Apex Legends cheaters, principally on PC. Indeed, they announced last month that they had already banned over 350,000 accounts. However, in their ongoing fight against these cheaters, the studio has now turned to hardware ID bans to keep repeat offenders out.
Apex Legends Cheaters Now Face Hardware ID Bans
Unfortunately for game developers, there exists a culture of cheating and hacking among some PC gamers, and these cheaters are often very good at avoiding punishment. Apex Legends cheaters have been avoiding bans by using standard methods like changing IP addresses or simply switching to backup accounts. Unfortunately, the ease with which bans are sometimes avoided only serves to embolden such individuals. Now, however, Respawn may have found a way to shut cheaters down for good.
In recent days, hackers have been complaining about being hardware ID banned online. Screenshots of these posts were shared on Reddit; “Everytime I create new account it gets banned,” wrote one frustrated cheater. Respawn did not make any public announcement about implementing these sort of bans. However, it’s very likely that the lack of announcement was intentional. Indeed, last month Respawn said that; “We’re keeping a lot of our strategy close to the chest so offenders don’t have time to build workarounds before we implement changes.”
Thankfully, it looks as though this particular change has been notably successful. Free-to-play games like Fortnite and Apex Legends are much more accessible than other triple-A titles, and as such; they can be much easier to cheat in. This is especially problematic because it increases the likelihood of players encountering cheaters and abandoning the game out of frustration. Fortunately, it seems like Respawn is currently winning the war against Apex Legends cheaters. With a new punishment system currently in the works for players who quit early, things are looking good for Apex’s many legitimate players.