Apex Legends has reportedly been hacked to raise awareness over the unplayable state of developer Respawn's other game series Titanfall. Players have taken to social media to report that the battle royale's server playlists are being replaced with a message that reads "SAVETITANFALL.COM, TF1 is being attacked so is Apex." Gamers also received an "Important Message" popup after matches directing them to the same URL that has been active for a few months now, according to PC Gamer.
The resulting disruption to matchmaking in Apex Legends prompted Respawn to publish a server update that it said resolved the issue. In tweets, the studio added that the attack "has not put players’ personal information or accounts at risk."
We’ve published a server update targeted at solving the matchmaking issue and are cautiously optimistic as we wait for the update to reach all servers (this typically takes hours).
— Respawn (@Respawn) July 5, 2021
We’ll follow up in an hour with confirmation and/or information about our next steps.
While game hacking is often associated with cheating or theft, it seems in this case it was an extreme case of fan frustration over Respawn's lack of attention toward Titanfall. Using it to advocate for an end to game hacks is also something you don't see that often.
In short, Titanfall has suffered from numerous vulnerabilities that are leading to crashed or overloaded servers and disconnections. After years of complaints, Respawn recently confirmed that it was working on a fix for the problems, which have plagued the title on Origin and Steam.