Apex Legends players accuse Respawn of “murdering the game” by not fixing smurf problem in ranked

The Apex Legends community is frustrated with the rank queue and has called Respawn Entertainment to make some much-needed changes. Ranked is never a perfect experience, especially in free-to-play games like Apex. There are cheaters, smurfs, hackers, and toxic players galore.

On Reddit, one Apex player asked why there isn’t a higher level requirement for ranked, asking if it can be moved to level 50 “at least” due to all of the smurfs in platinum lobbies.

“Respawn is absolutely murdering this game for the above average player,” they added.

Since Season 2, Apex has required players to be level 10 to unlock ranked matches. But three years later, players have started seeing a pattern. Since players can be at such a low level when entering matches, it’s easy for smurfs to start a new account and almost instantly join ranked, absolutely destroying lower-level players.

The Apex community was largely in agreement that something needed to change. Some wondered if ranked should only be available for players who connect their mobile numbers, meaning hackers and smurfs with multiple accounts would not be able to get in as easily – or at all. While some players noted that there are easy ways around this for sneaky players, it’s still a roadblock that will stop some players from smurfing.

The Apex playerbase also agreed that Respawn Entertainment “doesn’t care” about the game or its players. One user pointed out that smurf accounts make the playerbase appear larger, which is all Respawn cares about. Meanwhile, lag, bugs, and other issues have gone unaddressed for years.

“Smurf reports go in the trash, Respawn don’t give a shit. It’s useless option that exists to stop people doing false cheating reports on smurfs,” another player noted.

Added another: “Because Respawn doesn’t give a shit as long as you buy battle passes and skins. Blame the kiddos with their parents’ credit cards.”

Despite so much frustration with Apex ranked queue, the game has continued to grow over the years. Apex is one of the most popular battle royales in the world. But players still hope developers will listen and do something about this growing issue with smurfs.