Ranked integrity: ban waves are not enough for free accounts

Hello EA and Respawn team,

I am writing this as a long-time Apex Legends player who still cares about the game and wants to see it remain competitive, healthy, and worth investing time into. This is not a post aimed at naming or accusing individual players. I understand that cheating reports should be handled through the proper in-game and EA Help channels. My goal here is to raise a broader concern about the current structure of Apex Legends, especially ranked play, and to suggest changes that could make anti-cheat action more meaningful in the long term.

First of all, I want to acknowledge the recent work from the anti-cheat team. The April 24 anti-cheat update showed that Respawn banned 28,267 accounts since the previous update, removed over 6.6 million RP in Season 28, and took action against almost 1,000 DMA-related cases. Those numbers show that the team is clearly doing work behind the scenes, and I appreciate that this is not an easy problem to solve.

However, from a normal ranked player’s perspective, the core problem still feels unresolved: banning large numbers of accounts does not fully protect the competitive experience if new accounts can be created immediately and for free.

Apex Legends is a free-to-play competitive game. That model has helped the game grow, but it also creates a serious weakness in ranked integrity. If a cheater loses one account, the cost of returning is extremely low. They can simply create another free account and continue ruining matches. This means that even large ban waves may feel like temporary clean-ups rather than lasting prevention.

This is especially frustrating in ranked, where every match affects progression, RP, time investment, and the overall trust players have in the ladder. A cheater in public matches is already a serious problem, but a cheater in ranked damages the competitive system itself. They do not only ruin one match; they distort RP, placements, matchmaking quality, and the credibility of high ranks.

Because of this, I believe Apex Legends needs more friction for ranked access and stronger consequences for repeat offenders.

Apex could remain free-to-play for casual modes, mixtape, training, events, and new-player onboarding, but ranked access could require a small one-time purchase, ranked pass, verified edition, or account upgrade.

This would not need to be expensive. Even a minimal cost would create friction for repeat cheaters who currently treat banned accounts as disposable. The goal would not be to monetize ranked aggressively, but to protect its integrity.

Many legitimate players who care about ranked would likely accept a small barrier if it meant fewer throwaway cheater accounts. At the same time, casual players could still enjoy the game for free.

If making ranked paid is not acceptable, then ranked could require stronger verification, such as a verified phone number, minimum account age, higher level requirement, verified EA account history, trusted device history, previous season activity requirements, or stricter checks for newly created accounts entering high-MMR lobbies.

The important point is that ranked should require more commitment than simply creating a new account and quickly entering competitive lobbies.

Account bans are necessary, but they are not enough when accounts are free. For confirmed repeat offenders, EA and Respawn should consider stronger hardware or device-based penalties, while also keeping a fair appeal process for false positives.

I understand that hardware bans must be handled carefully. There can be shared PCs, internet cafes, second-hand hardware, and privacy concerns. But for clear repeat offenders, especially those using paid cheat tools, DMA setups, or repeated ban evasion, account-only punishment feels too weak.

The message should be clear: cheating in Apex should not simply cost someone a disposable account. It should carry real consequences that make returning difficult.

EA and Respawn have already stated that Apex uses Easy Anti-Cheat plus additional internal protections. Still, many players feel that the visible experience in ranked does not always match the scale of the anti-cheat effort.

I am not asking the team to reveal security details. I understand that anti-cheat work cannot be fully public. But from the player side, it would help to see a clearer long-term plan for faster detection of repeat offenders, stronger prevention before cheaters reach ranked, better detection of DMA and hardware-assisted cheating, stronger server-side behavior analysis, better protection in high-rank lobbies, clearer feedback when reports lead to action, and more frequent public integrity updates.

If replacing Easy Anti-Cheat entirely is not realistic, then please consider whether Apex needs a stronger custom layer around it, especially for ranked and high-level play.

Any stronger system must also protect legitimate players. If ranked access becomes paid or verified, or if hardware/device-based enforcement becomes stronger, there must be a clear appeal process and careful review. False positives can seriously harm innocent players, so stronger enforcement should come with stronger accountability.

This is why I am asking for a balanced approach: more friction for bad actors, but fair treatment for legitimate players.

The current situation creates a trust problem. When players see a cheater banned, they should feel that the system worked. Instead, many players think: “They will just make another free account.” That feeling weakens trust in ranked and makes every anti-cheat update feel less impactful than it should.

Apex Legends is one of the best competitive shooters ever made in terms of movement, gunplay, team fights, and skill expression. That is exactly why cheating feels so damaging. Players want to believe that their time in ranked matters. They want to know that climbing is based on skill, not on who has better cheats or more disposable accounts.

Please consider treating ranked integrity as a separate priority from general free-to-play accessibility. Keep Apex accessible, but make ranked harder to abuse. Ban waves are important, but without stronger barriers against repeat offenders, the same problem will keep returning under new account names.

Thank you for reading, and thank you to the anti-cheat and security teams for the work already being done. I hope EA and Respawn will consider stronger ranked access requirements, stronger repeat-offender enforcement, and a more advanced long-term anti-cheat strategy.

Respectfully,

A concerned Apex Legends ranked player