Apex Legends Global Series Marred by Hacks: Aimbot and Wallhacks Take Center Stage

In an unexpected twist that could be mistaken for a plot of a cyber-thriller, the Apex Legends Global Series was thrown into disarray when two prominent streamers were hacked live during the North America regional finals. The competitive world of esports was rocked as Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose and Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen found their PCs compromised with aimbot and wallhack cheats, respectively.

The incident unfolded dramatically, with Genburten discovering mid-match that he could see opponents through walls—a blatant cheat. A Twitch clip captured the moment, including a chat spam with the message “Apex hacking global series by Destroyer2009 & R4ndom,” as Genburten exclaimed, “I can see everyone!” before responsibly exiting the game. The hack on ImperialHal followed shortly, with him vocalizing, “I have aimbot right now!” and then, “I can’t shoot.” Despite his efforts to continue, the integrity of the match was irreparably damaged, leading to its abandonment.

The repercussions of these hacks were immediate and severe. The Anti-Cheat Police Department, a group of volunteers dedicated to combating in-game cheating, issued a public service announcement highlighting the presence of an RCE (Remote Code Execution) exploit in Apex Legends. The exploit could be delivered through the game or its anti-cheat system, leading to the unsettling advice: “I would advise against playing any games protected by EAC or any EA titles.”

For the players in the tournament, the advice was even more dire. Urging them to change their Discord passwords, secure their emails, enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all accounts, and perform a clean operating system reinstall, the message was clear: take no chances with personal information as PCs may have been exposed to rootkits or other malicious software.

The fallout from this hacking incident has led to the postponement of the rest of the series, with the official Twitter account citing the compromised competitive integrity of the event. The promise to share more information soon offers a glimmer of hope for resolution, but the damage to the tournament’s reputation is already done.

This breach serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of online gaming platforms and the constant battle against those who seek to undermine the spirit of fair competition. As the esports community reels from this blow, the question remains: how can such breaches be prevented in the future, and what does this mean for the security of online competitive gaming?

The gaming community is left to ponder these questions as they await further updates on the fate of the Apex Legends Global Series. One thing is certain: the integrity of esports is paramount, and all stakeholders must work tirelessly to protect it from those who would use technology for unfair advantage.