In a recent update on the anti-cheat systems in place forApex Legendsand the continued efforts of developer Respawn Entertainment to keep cheaters out of the game, the developer revealed some shocking information about the number of accounts banned.
In itsblog post, Respawn Entertainment explained that more than 6 millionApex Legendsaccounts have been caught cheating and subsequently banned since the game’s launch. What I thought was the much more impactful statistic, though, is the fact that an average of 100,000 accounts are banned monthly. It’s not hard to see how you top 6 million with that kind of monthly turnover, and it shows that there’s a huge cheating scene around this highly-competitive battle royale title.
More tools, investment, and commitment
Respawn Entertainment has really stepped up its efforts to be more transparent about its anti-cheat work onApex Legendssince pro players were hacked leading up to the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs in 2024. Its most recent blog post explained how it banned over 200,000 accounts in June and July 2024, most of which were caught cheating, but a few were discovered to be bot accounts.
As of September 2024, a 24/7 human support team is in place to monitor cheaters inApex Legends. To do this, it uses Easy Anti-Cheat and a few other systems it hasn’t outlined because it wants to make it as hard as possible for cheaters to damage the core experience in the game.
However, despite all this work, there continues to be a huge market for cheaters inApex Legends. One of the biggest names in the game’s streaming community,WeThePeople, recently ran into a couple of cheaters in a match and asked them why they do it.
I was astounded to hear that people pay $5,000 just to access cheats and then continue making regular monthly payments of $800. I can understand players paying for cheats because they want to hit the best rank possible in the game’s competitive mode, but all this is several times what I pay for my mortgage.
Given the large amounts of money players are willing to spend on cheats forApex Legends, it’s no wonder Respawn Entertainment has to ban so many accounts. There’s an ecosystem ingrained within the game and thousands of dollars to be made for those who know how to get around the anti-cheat systems.
However, with a larger human component to the anti-cheat pipeline, which includes reports from players, as well as more powerful tools, Respawn Entertainment has clearly stepped up its efforts to stamp out cheating inApex Legendsfor good. Time will tell how successful it is.
