Apex Legends has been punishing cheaters and spammers not by banning them, but by lumping them all together in the same matches.
People cheating to win in video games has always been a problem and sadly, it probably always will be. Ever since our friends and siblings needed to resort to the shortcuts on Mario Kart, losing to those who cheat has made our blood boil since we were kids. Nowadays, the ways in which people can cheat in games has become a lot more advanced.
Gamers now find gaps in the game's code rather than Mario Kart's track barriers. When playing online, especially in ranked matches or even if you're playing competitively, seeing this happen can be incredibly frustrating. If you do see it happen, you can obviously report it and hopefully, something will be done. That won't reverse whatever happened during that match or round, though.
So, what are developers doing to counteract cheaters? Well, believe it or not, they're working around the clock. Apex Legends' developer Respawn recently shared a little info on how it is personally dealing with cheaters. It listed the actions being taken on Reddit, most of which include the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to find cheaters and spammers before they get the chance to annoy rule-abiding players.
However, our favorite thing of all is what has been happening to cheaters that are identified in-game: matchmaking them together. It's a plan so simple and so perfectly evil, we can't believe more games haven't been using it. We'd love to watch a live stream of cheaters unknowingly playing against each other, having their own dirty tactics used against them and watching them become incredibly frustrated.
Annoyingly, no amount of AI and machine learning is going to track down every single cheater and spammer. For the most part, the task of ratting them out is on the player's shoulders. Respawn admits that, and thanks those who have seen and reported cheating in the past. Players will continue to find ways in which they can gain an unfair advantage, and all we can do is try to remain a step or two ahead of them.