The North American esports final of online shooter Apex Legends has been postponed due to claims of hacking. Players shared clips showing cheat modes being activated mid-match, compromising the competitive integrity of the contest. The official regional contest organisers have yet to share further details, but high-profile players Genburten and ImperialHal posted clips of cheats being inserted into their games, violating the rules of major esports competitions.
Cheats such as ‘wallhack’ and ‘aimbot’ were used, revealing the location of other players and automatically targeting opponents, respectively. The Anti-Cheat Police Department, a volunteer group combatting cheating in online games, mentioned that hackers seemed to have found a flaw allowing them to access players’ machines. They warned players against participating in any games protected by EAC or any EA titles until the issue is resolved.
Concerns have been raised by regular players about the security of their own machines, but there has been no official confirmation of this. In response, the makers of Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) stated that they are confident there is no remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability within EAC being exploited, and they will continue to work closely with their partners for any follow-up support needed.
Apex Legends, a free-to-play, team-based battle royale shooter developed by Respawn Entertainment, was launched as a competitor to Fortnite and recently marked its fifth anniversary. EA, which owns Respawn, recently announced the cancellation of a Star Wars-themed first-person shooter from the studio.
