419 Ranked Apex Legend Players Banned After Using Glitch
The competitive Apex Legends scene has been rocked to its core as 419 of its highest-ranked players have been banned for exploiting a glitch and taking out Bronze players to improve their own standing. Just when you thought the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coaching bug scandal was enough for one year as the ESIC banned a slew of coaches, along came Apex for a piece of the drama.
Respawn's first-person shooter has been going "great guns" since its launch in early 2019. Amassing millions of players, it also launched the official Apex Legends Global Circuit to gather the best of the best.
While there are those who simply play for fun, other gamers take Apex more seriously and opt for Ranked. It's here where the glitch has been running rife and seen even those at the top get there through unscrupulous means.
What is the Apex Legends Ranked glitch?
Posting on Twitter, the Apex security Conor Ford called out 419 Diamond Rank players for farming Ranked Points from the much lower Bronze Rank. Ford said they would now have to enjoy the jam-packed Apex Legends Season 7 from the sidelines. Discussing what's next, Ford reiterated it will be across all platforms and said, "Justice has no boundaries lol".
Although Ford didn't go into more detail about how the glitch works, it's actually a long-standing issue for the game. An EA support entry from last July talks about how "higher-ranked players of any rank (Example Platinum) can glitch into a lobby for the lower-ranked games (Example Bronze) to farm easy RP and grind their rank".
Respawn has taken a lot of flak for its skill-based matchmaking, so to see players actively flaunt the rules of SBMM adds a sense of irony. Even though some have claimed they've been unfairly banned and caught in the crossfire of the exploit, they say there's no smoke without fire.
How does Apex Legends Ranked play work?
In Ranked, players are tiered in Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, and Apex Predator. Each of these - excluding Apex Predator - is then split into four divisions. You climb ranks by earning RP from matches. Simply, the better you are, the better your rank. However, the higher you go, the harder the competition.
Looking at the stats, EA confirmed just 1.89% of players made it to Diamond Rank in Season 6 (compared to 2.51% in Season 5). The difference in ranks is huge, with Diamond requiring 7,200 RP to reach its lofty heights. The most you can earn per match is 100 RP, plus an additional 225 for kill bonuses, meaning it's one hell of a climb to make it to Diamond. Axing 419 players is also a massive cull, leading us to question is there actually anyone left in Diamond as Season 7 gets off the starting blocks?
All in all, there's been plenty of support for Ford's actions from lower-ranked players and those who think Apex Legends should be played fairly. Well, you can't say you weren't warned. As for those 419 given the boot, it sounds like Season 7 will have to be watched from the sidelines.
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Images via Respawn Entertainment
