Hacker defaces Apex Legends game to complain about Titanfall cheaters

A hacker is currently defacing the in-game interface of Apex Legends, a popular battle royale shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment, with messages in support of Titanfall, another game developed by the same company in previous years.

  • The messages are linking to a website named SaveTitanfall, launched earlier this year, where the game's fans have asked Respawn to intervene and ban cheating players, whose actions have made the game unplayable for several years.
  • Messages promoting the SaveTitanfall websites have started appearing on the morning of July 4, initially for PC players, and have now been showing up for PlayStation and Xbox players for the past few hours as well.
  • The defacement messages are appearing in two forms.
  • The first is a playlist banner advertising a new game mode, inside players' game UI, but linking to the SaveTitanfall website.
  • The second is a popup message appearing after every round, asking users to visit and share the SaveTitanfall website URL.
  • According to several Apex Legends players interviewed by The Record, the defacements had not interfered with their gameplay. However, after this article went live, reports started coming in, and were confirmed by Respawn itself, that some players started having problems connecting to matches.
  • It is currently unclear how the hackers are defacing the Apex Legends game UI, but a server-side exploit is currently suspected.
  • Neither Respawn Entertainment nor Electronic Arts, which acquired the game studio in 2017, have returned requests for comment sent by The Record over the July 4 extended US weekend.
  • On the SaveTitanfall website, the game's fans are complaining that Respawn has effectively abandoned the game, initially released in 2014, which has now become unplayable due to hackers, DDoS attacks, and unfixed bugs.
  • In a message posted on their website, the SaveTitanfall team distanced itself from the Apex Legends hacks.

SaveTitanfall.png

Image: The Record
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Catalin Cimpanu

Catalin Cimpanu

is a cybersecurity reporter who previously worked at ZDNet and Bleeping Computer, where he became a well-known name in the industry for his constant scoops on new vulnerabilities, cyberattacks, and law enforcement actions against hackers.