Apex Legends Global Series NA finals postponed due to hacking incident

The finals of the North American leg of the Apex Legends Global Series was canceled due to an alleged hacking incident that happened in the Pro League Split 1 finals match.

“Due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time.  We will share more information soon,” Respawn Entertainment, Apex Legends’ developer, said in a brief statement.

Respawn is a part of worldwide game magnate Electronic Arts or EA.

Esports Insider reported that two professional players TSM player Philip “ImperialHal” Dosen and Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose of DarkZero, appeared confused as cheats suddenly appeared on their screen without their knowledge.

ImperialHal apparently received an aimbot, or a tool which allows a user to effectively aim against their opponents, while other players got the ability to see their opponents’ locations.

The hackers also reportedly sent messages in the tournament lobby, taking responsibility for the server hack. That game was then ended by the tournament admins shortly after.

Following this incident, the future of the ALGS NA Regional Finals is in limbo, with the next steps to be determined in future events. 

Split 1 of the Apex Legends playoffs will take place from May 2-5 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. 12 slots are expected for North American teams.

However, there is no word yet as to how the game will affect slots as well as who gets to join the playoff stage.

This is the first major hacking incident for Apex Legends Global Series. Back in March 2023, Riot Games’ LoL Champions Korea was hit by distributed denial of service or DDoS attacks, which resulted in pre-recorded matches with no live fans in attendance.

This also comes at a time when EA Games is continuing to process layoffs, some of which had hit Respawn Entertainment.