Thousands of Apex Legends players no doubt looking forward to cheating their way to the top of rankings with the arrival of Season 10 have been permanently prevented from doing so. As confirmed by Conor Ford, a member of the battle royale’s security team, last week, a total of 2,086 players across all available platforms have been issued bans effective immediately for abusing what’s essentially a goodwill gesture.
For those not aware, a forgiveness system that accounts for accidental match disconnects (server/internet issues, etc.) has long been in place to stop unfair loss of RP (Ranked Points) needed to progress competitively. While it continues to provide a much-welcome safety net for legitimate fans, however, less savory types have discovered early on that ‘dashboarding’ – the act of forcibly closing Apex by returning to a console or desktop home screen – also resulted in a lossless match.
Unsurprisingly, cheaters will use the exploit whenever they’re guaranteed or likely to lose, eliminating any risk or loss of RP in the process. Fortunately, Respawn has tools at its disposal which enable it to detect this activity and has taken action.
Given its larger install base, the number of users on PlayStation 4 banned for the offense is exponentially higher than others. While the figure attached to PC may come as a surprise, it’s worth noting that dashboarding is much harder to consistently pull off on the platform.
In related news, Apex Legends Season 10 is now available on all platforms and introduces playable character Seer, as well as several meta improvements and the new Rampage LMG. For a full breakdown of everything to look out for, see here.