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Hackers Forced Respawn to Postpone ALGS NA Regional Finals

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Hackers Forced Respawn to Postpone ALGS NA Regional Finals

Cheating in Esports isn't a new phenomenon, but when was the last time you saw a player cheating, except it wasn't the player doing it?

Sunday night was supposed to be the conclusion of the ALGS NA Regional Finals. However, several hours into the broadcast, an unprecedented instance of cheating occurred.

DarkZero Esports player Genburten was in the middle of a game like normal until he suddenly lost control of his account. It began playing itself and soon started displaying the locations of every other player in the match. Somehow, a hacker managed to hijack his account in the middle of the ALGS NA Regional Finals. After about 30 seconds of confusion and with advice from his teammates, Genburten left the match.

But that wasn't the end of the day's hacking.

Not long after the attack on Genburten's account, TSM Team Captain ImperialHal became the hacker's next victim. After taking over Hal's account, the hacker forcibly enabled Aimbot in the middle of the match.

With the day's event completely compromised, Respawn decided to halt the tournament, followed by a tweet announcing the postponement of the ALGS NA Regional Finals. Details on the rescheduled date are coming soon.

Is it time for Respawn to re-examine Easy Anti-Cheat?

Respawn Entertainment has had a rough past two months. An EA company restructuring saw a Star Wars FPS title canceled in February, and two dozen Apex Legends staffers were laid off last week. 

After the disaster tonight, perhaps EA should consider re-examining Apex's Easy Anti-Cheat system as well. Easy Anti-Cheat doesn't have the best reputation, with the community criticizing its effectiveness since the launch of Apex Legends. Respawn just revealed the details for the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs kicking off in early May. If a hack attack like this were to occur again, confidence in the structural integrity of competitive Apex might suffer a serious hit it can't fully recover from. 

Hackers Forced Respawn to Postpone ALGS NA Regional Finals
Xavier Geitz
When not busy writing about Esports, the latest and greatest digital gaming deals, and reviewing video game, you can find Xavier wandering Morrowind's Telvanni Coast, tirelessly petitioning for a Timesplitters 2 remake, or trying to understand the Concept of Love.