The North American finals of the Apex Legends tournament were abruptly postponed following a cyber attack on two professional gamers over the weekend.
Respawn Entertainment, an EA-owned studio responsible for developing Apex Legends, cited the attack’s impact on the competitive integrity of the series as the primary reason for the delay. The studio took to social media to announce the postponement, promising more information would be forthcoming.
The hacking incident was broadcast live on Twitch, allowing viewers to witness the hackers’ interference and the players’ bewildered reactions in real-time. Clips of these moments quickly spread across various social media platforms, highlighting the gravity of the situation.
In one notable instance, DarkZero Esports player Noyan Ozkose, better known by his gamer tag “Genburten,” was visibly taken aback when his game screen was suddenly overtaken by a message claiming responsibility for the hacks. This message, attributed to individuals going by “Destroyer2009 & R4ndom,” spammed his chat window, leaving Ozkose and his audience in disbelief.
Ozkose discovered he had been granted the ability to see the locations of other players through walls, a clear violation of the game’s rules. Recognizing the unfair advantage, he chose to exit the game immediately. Similarly, Phillip Dosen, also known as “ImperialHal” from TSM, encountered a hack that provided him with aimbot capabilities, automatically aiming and enhancing his shooting accuracy. This led to an urgent call from his teammates to leave the game to maintain fairness.
These incidents underline ongoing challenges faced by EA in managing cheats and hacks within its gaming community. The company has previously been criticized for not addressing this issue more aggressively, a sentiment that has grown especially after EA announced significant layoffs and the cancellation of a highly anticipated Star Wars first-person shooter game by Respawn Entertainment last month.
The decision to postpone the tournament was made late Sunday night, with the gaming community awaiting further updates on the resolution of this unprecedented situation. As of Monday, no additional information regarding the tournament’s rescheduling or measures against such hacks has been disclosed, leaving players and fans in a state of uncertainty about the future of competitive Apex Legends play.
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Featured Image courtesy of DADO RUVIC/REUTERS