Apex Legends pro Bear suspected of cheating, supposedly banned after ALGS qualification

Right when Apex Legends fans thought the recent slew of bans was over, another ALGS pro has had their account suspended, supposedly over cheating allegations. The newly qualified APAC South player “Bear” was recently exposed online by fellow preseason qualified player Selka. 

Qualifications for ALGS Year Four’s pro league have been consistently marred by controversy. EA-issued bans have already resulted in three teams either losing their chance to qualify or having their qualification rescinded. The unprecedented wave of player bans has caused significant confusion and several delayed qualifications, overall forming a rocky start to the 2023-2024 season. 

In his post on X (formerly Twitter), Selka shared screenshots of Discord messages received by Bear immediately following his apparent ban. In the conversation, he initially asked, “Does this mean my EA account has been banned?” Following this, he clarified, “I can’t play the game now. I don’t know what’s going on,” and expressed his anxiety regarding the situation, according to machine translation.  

Although the reason for Bear’s supposed ban has yet to be confirmed by EA, speculation is rife that it relates to cheating. Under Selka’s post on Twitter/X, a user tagged APAC South guru and Australian caster Brad “im_b_rad” Lusher, asking for his input and citing that it is the third time the player has been banned. In response, im_b_rad responded that it was “prob cheating,” with no further elaboration.

As a new player in the scene, little is known about Bear’s past. They qualified for the pro league after their team, MnK, won the second week of preseason qualifiers in the APAC South region. But if im_b_rad and the recent trend of newly qualified players receiving bans are anything to go by, it would not be surprising if terms of service violations were involved.  

The APAC South region has already suffered from the untimely exit of fellow preseason qualifier team MDY Red after EA found the players guilty of collusion, a blatant violation of ALGS rules. Team Ocean Turtle, the next in line to qualify based on accumulated points, was promoted to the pro league instead.

For team MnK, the future is unclear. We are yet to discover whether the entire team will be removed from their qualification slot or if the two remaining members will be allowed to seek a new third player if Bear’s ban remains in place. 

The only other team who had only one player banned was Three Dragons, whose third player Sunzyyy was banned for cheating. This ban occurred before the last preseason qualifier final, and although the remaining members played as a duo, they were not able to accumulate the required points due to their teammate’s absence. Twenty-four hours after the qualifier ended, the decision was made to allow team 40%worse, featuring players Mande and Shiv, to take their place. Bear’s ban taking place after the preseason qualifiers may result in a different decision from EA.

The final ban disrupting the Apex preseason was Redragon, where two of the three players were banned in the days before the last preseason qualifier weekend for IP-related violations of EA’s terms of service. They were not allowed to continue competing for qualification. 

With four teams disrupted by bans before the pro league has even started, EA’s ability to detect ToS violations might be thrown into question. Many would agree, especially as these violations were not identified until the players were either on the verge of qualification or had already qualified for the professional split. 

Fans and players likely hope this will be the last ban to throw the ALGS qualification process into question. But patience is wearing thin. EA will have to work to regain trust that the professional players in the ALGS are there due to legitimate skill, not crafty collusion or cheats.