Apex Legends: Over 6 Million Accounts Banned in Cheating Purge

Respawn has revealed that over 6 million Apex Legends accounts have been banned since the game's launch. This astonishing figure was shared as part of an update on the game's anti-cheat, which came after complaints about the growing number of cheaters in the game.

During the end of Season 21, the top tier of ranked became nearly unplayable, with cheaters being encountered in every lobby. Respawn promised to have a more open conversation about the issue, sharing a detailed update on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

There are over 100,000 Apex bans per month on average. While it may seem frustrating when you encounter a cheater in Apex, information shared today shows that action is being taken regularly to combat cheaters. The number shared today also includes bans for reasons other than cheating, including hateful behavior.

With over 6 million accounts banned since launch, this equates to an average of over 100,000 accounts being banned per month. Now of course, Apex is a free game. Persistent cheaters can create new accounts. This somewhat explains why the numbers are so high.

In June and July 2024, over 200k accounts were banned. Most of these were permanent and were for cheating.
Asia-Pacific region gets special attention. Respawn also shared some more details on their work to ban cheaters' Apex accounts. They say they have expanded their anti-cheat team worldwide, with a special focus on the Asia-Pacific region. That region has been the most affected by cheating, which sometimes caused servers to become inaccessible.

Apex uses Easy Anti-Cheat to help identify cheating activity and issue automated bans. Respawn has outlined some of the improvements they have made to this software. However, they are limited in what they can share.
The battle between game developers and cheaters is a never-ending struggle. As anti-cheats evolve, so do cheats. A significant aspect of this battle is the “fog of war”. As a result, it can sometimes seem like developers aren’t taking action, even when they are.

This statement marks a new era of transparency regarding cheating in Apex Legends. It’s undeniable that Apex has faced numerous cheating issues over the years. Naturally, this has led to criticism. However, Respawn are taking the issue more seriously than ever before. Hopefully this will lead to notable improvements, especially in the higher-tier ranks.