This practice of shaming cheaters is not entirely new, as many players have been eager to expose rule-breakers for a while. Some game developers have also embraced this approach. Earlier this year, for instance, the creators of Escape from Tarkov shared Google sheets listing the usernames of thousands of players caught using exploits.
In Call of Duty, cheaters can no longer rely on the anonymity of the franchise's anti-cheat system, Ricochet. A recent update has made it so that cheaters and hackers are flagged with the Ricochet logo displayed next to their names in the kill feed. Now, Apex Legends has joined the ranks of multiplayer games publicly calling out cheaters.
On August 7, Red Spider, a security developer for Apex Legends, previewed the game's "new kill feed callout." The screenshot revealed the Apex kill feed featuring a warning symbol and the text "Red Spider was removed from the match." This feature was officially introduced to Apex Legends on August 8 as part of the Season 18: Resurrection update.
This move by Respawn Entertainment demonstrates their commitment to publicly highlighting those who engage in unfair play. The security developer clarified in a subsequent post that the feature "respects the users' anonymous mode setting." This means that if someone has the anonymous mode enabled, the kill feed will simply display a generic name like "player1234."
As of August 8, the new feature targeting cheaters in Apex Legends is live, allowing players to identify those who have misbehaved. Whether Respawn's efforts to combat hacking will stop here remains uncertain. Nevertheless, fans frustrated by the cheating problems can find solace in the fact that the studio is taking proactive steps to enhance the gaming experience.
