Gab Hernandez 
Hackers have infiltrated an Apex Legends Global Series tournament, shutting down the event and seemingly injecting hacks into esports players’ games while they were live on-stream.
The Apex Legends Global Series celebrates its 4th year in 2024. With an impressive prize pool of $5,000,000, the event was positioned to be among the biggest events in esports during the year, with the Fortnite World Cup seemingly dead and Dota 2’s esports scene withering up now that Valve is bored. As expected, these players take the game seriously, and focus is non-negotiable. Any distractions or technical issues could cost them significant money.
Unfortunately, that focus gets broken when hackers insert themselves into the game. This occurred while players were competing in the event, with fans getting a demonstration of how rough the game’s anti-cheat system really is.
Hacker seemingly compromises ImperialHal, Genburten gameplay during Apex Legends Global Series regional finals
A hacker named “Destroyer” took control of pro-player accounts during an Apex Legends finals game. In an unprecedented moment for esports, a hacker derailed the entire tournament with their attack.
First, DarkZero player Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose inexplicably started having wallhacks and could not control where he was aiming. The cheater also spammed taunts in chat, mocking the tournament with “Apex hacking global series” messages.
Later in the tournament, TSM player Philip “ImperialHal” Dosen received an aimbot, a cheat that allows players to shoot other players with deadly ease. Understandably for a competitive game, ImperialHal let go of his keyboard and mouse when the hack happened. With two hacking attacks in quick succession, the ALGS organizers pulled the plug on that day’s events.
Why was Apex Legends Global Series North American Finals delayed?
The Apex Legends Global Series North American Finals has been postponed until further notice after a hacker disrupted the event.
The ALGS has never had to stop a tournament over hacking before this moment, and this kind of attack may be a first in esports history. Cheating has happened on many occasions in esports and players have famously been caught red-handed cheating during esports events. Being able to remotely alter the gameplay of another person through a game is another matter entirely and potentially a catastrophic security issue. Games like the Dark Souls series had online play shut down for an extended period of time when it was discovered that the games could effectively be repurposed into a Trojan Horse-style virus through online play.
Fans and streamers noted how prevalent hackers have become in Apex Legends, with the usual aimbots and wall hacks standing alongside subtle cheats like instant grenades and delaying reloads for enemy players. If EA and Respawn want to ensure Apex Legends is taken seriously as an esports game, then hacking incidents must not happen in the future.
