Apex Legends Devs Explain Why Major PC Advantage Can't Be Solved - Yet

As Apex Legends continues to impress the wider battle royale fanatics that were birthed in the Fortnite era, and Christened in Warzone, the maniacal yet magical side of the mechanical FPS has become much more prevalent. 

The upper echelon of players has grown tenfold, as the 'new guard' of skilled marksmen begin to master the unique movement logistics that separate the best from the rest. However, the debate over which input is better (controller versus keyboard and mouse), is discussed more than ever before in Apex Legends, as the developers continue to insist that mechanics such as loot-moving and tap-strafing will continue to be exclusive to the qwerty gang.

Apex Legends Devs Explain Why Controller Players Can't Move When Looting

According to Respawn Entertainment's Live Balance Designer, John Larson (a.k.a. JayBiebs), the mechanic that allows keyboard and mouse players to move whilst looting is actually a bug, although they have no intentions of patching it. 

Taking to a Twitlonger, the developer explained, "Is it a bug we’ll ever fix? No."

"In regards to having the same option added for controller players, the dev added, "it's not as simple as adding a menu option for "loot with the right stick." The fact that the left analogue stick moves the cursor when menus are open is very much hardcoded, and adding it (along with other advanced interact controls) requires UI, code, and design support that isn't a top priority right now."

Respawn Entertainment Insist Tap-Strafing Is Not Coming To Controller

Despite a growing disparity between both K+M and controller inputs, Larson continued to explain that "tap-strafing" is not going to be removed in its entirety, and the team has no desire to make the movement mechanic accessible to controller players.

"[Tap-strafing] exists as a design problem," Larson explained, adding, "the lack of readability and how it compounds with movement abilities are the biggest causes for concern". Despite acknowledging the advantage, he insisted that they will not be "doubling down" on efforts to remove something that "feels good".

The comments don't make for good reading for controller players hoping that their movement will soon match those with a mouse in hand, although it's inevitable that aim assist is the counterargument that will continue to divide the fan base.