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'Apex Legends' will pit cheaters against each other

It's also working to auto-detect and adapt to new cheating methods.

Respawn may have a particularly poetic way to exact justice on Apex Legends cheaters: give them a taste of their own medicine. The studio has revealed that its anti-cheating efforts will include matchmaking between detected cheaters and spam accounts. Their aim bots and hacks won't be much fun if they're playing against similarly dirty competitors.

There's more to it than that, of course. Respawn is working on AI that can detect and auto-ban cheaters, a system that can ban spam accounts before they're used and a requirement for two-factor authentication in some regions for "high risk" users. Developers are also looking into how people party with cheaters. If you knowingly team up with a cheater, you're still not interested in playing fairly.

This isn't likely to deter some cheaters, especially if they can find ways to trick the AI and otherwise stay a step ahead. It's also not as dramatic as Blizzard's decision to shut down Overwatch matches when cheaters are involved. The matchmaking could make less dedicated cheaters think twice, at least, and it's evident that Respawn sees this as an ever-evolving battle.