Respawn Entertainment has announced a new anti-cheat system for Apex Legends Season 17: Arsenal. The update will be launching on Tuesday, May 9, and is expected to address many of the persistent issues in Ranked Mode, including smurf accounts and cheaters.
Matchmaking Changes
The new matchmaking system will include a hidden skill rating and will balance pre-made squads for a more level playing field. This is expected to combat some of the unfair advantages that players have previously used to cheat the system. The account level requirement for accessing Ranked Mode has been increased from 20 to 50 to reduce the number of smurfs and allow for more time for cheat detection.
LP vs. RP
The new scoring system for Season 17 replaces the old RP (Ranked Point) system with LP (Ladder Points) and allows the matchmaker to build games based on skill rather than just ladder placement. This prevents cheaters from sandbagging their points to play against lower-skilled players. Developers will also implement provisional matches to slow the progress of cheaters and prevent them from “stomping their way up the ladder.”
Botting
Developers are increasing the level requirement and implementing new detection methods to catch users who are botting accounts. Players should expect a decrease in bots and cheaters after some repeated ban-waves. Developers have assured players that the team is working on refining bot-detection and reducing the time it takes to ban.
Collusion
Players who collude or work with the enemy to farm kills and climb ranks will no longer have as great an advantage this season. Scoring changes, such as unique kills and unique assists, mean that players can no longer farm their points with Respawn Beacons. New detection methods are being rolled out to ensure fair play for all apex players. The team takes this issue seriously and investigates reports of any kind of collusion that negatively affects the competitive integrity of the game.
Exploits and DDoS attacks
Crashes that were previously assumed to be DDoS attacks on high-level Ranked play were actually an exploit that has since been fixed. The team has already launched actual DDoS protection measures, which are working as intended. The recent series of in-game bugs that affected the game’s performance turned out to be “a single line of code,” but developers have resolved the issue and players should expect to see improvements in the game’s performance during the update.
A Direct Message to the Player Base
In a recent announcement, Respawn assured the player community of its continued commitment to improving the game and addressing its problems. Although details about the anti-cheat efforts are not available, developers have promised that they are always actively working to improve these issues. Competitive integrity is a top priority for the team, and they are determined to keep cheaters, smurfs, and other bad-faith players in check.
Conclusion
Apex Legends: Arsenal Season 17 is expected to introduce significant changes to the game which will reduce cheating and improve the gameplay experience for all apex legends players. The new matchmaking system, higher account level requirements, and new detection methods are all designed to prevent cheaters from taking advantage of the Ranked Mode system. Players who cheat, abuse the system, or collude to farm kills will be held accountable, and Respawn Entertainment continues to have a keen eye on improving the playing field for all players.
