In a new developer update on Reddit, Respawn went into some detail about its plans to combat cheaters in Apex Legends. With the game running running on a modified version of Valve's Source Engine (ala Counter-Strike) no doubt this is a problem. In a very cool move one of the things being worked on is "Matchmaking that matches detected cheaters and spammers together".

As an idea that's brilliant, and really we'd love to see a replay of an all-cheaters round of Apex Legends. Of course this isn't the only anti-cheat initiative being worked on behind the scenes, with the following also happening:

Using machine learning to create behavior models that detect and auto ban cheaters.

Requiring TFA in certain regions on high risk accounts.

Improving detection that identifies and bans new spam accounts before they are used.

Ongoing work to adapt to new cheats.

Investigating how people party up for matches. Even if you are not specifically using a cheat, partying up with cheaters is still cheating.

Increasing resources whether that be people or tech.

Another interesting strategy is the Two-Factor Authentication for accounts in certain regions, as opposed to banning accounts which then has cheaters simply create new ones. "The war against cheaters will be ongoing and remains a high priority for us," Respawn adds. "There will always be work to do, improvements to make, and new things to adapt to. We’d like to thank the players that have been getting involved with helping us squash cheaters over the last week whether it be submitting reports or assisting with the vetting process for suspicious behavior."