Respawn Fixes Game-Wide Apex Legends Hack That Left Players Seeing 'Save Titanfall'

A frustrated Titanfall player or players hacked Apex Legends on Sunday, creating a playlist that directed players to a website informing them about DDoS attacks against Titanfall and demanding developer Respawn Entertainment fix the problem. Players were also unable to queue into matches in other playlists. Respawn has since removed the offending playlist and restored matchmaking.

DDoS attacks are in many ways the bane of Respawn's existence. Apex Legends and Titanfall 2 have seen their share of DDoS attacks by cheaters looking to get an unfair advantage, but the problem has been even worse in the first Titanfall game. Respawn has assured players they're working on a solution for these DDoS attacks, but with no long-term solution in sight, hackers took extreme measures to get the developer's attention.

The hacked Apex playlist was titled SaveTitanfall.com, the domain of a site explaining the DDoS issue and asking players to help spread the word. In addition to preventing players from queueing into new games, the hackers served players already in games a message directing them to the website.

"Titanfall is a beloved franchise by many, and hacker issues have been at rise," reads the site's landing page. "The Titanfall community has been begging Respawn to fix this issue for over three years, but to no avail. Today this game is still being sold, while being completely unplayable. It's time we speak up."

The site goes on to call selling Titanfall when its online doesn't work "is an act of fraud."

A banner at the top of SaveTitanfall.com denies the website had anything to do with Sunday's hack.

Respawn began investigating the hack a few hours after it began, then worked for around six hours deploying a fix. Matchmaking was restored at around 10 p.m. ET.

Respawn had previously addressed the Titanfall hacks in May, when they said they were investigating the issue. At the time, Respawn's director of communications Ryan Rigney lamented that hackers would use their talents to ruin the experience for others.

"I wish all the hackers/cheaters/malicious actors who ruin games would find more fulfilling hobbies. Why use your talent to tear communities apart?"

"The situation affecting the Titanfall games right now is so frustrating," he continued. "Weeks of work required to address each new stupid thing."