Apex Legends Horizon change: Is it a bug or a nerf? Explained

Apex Legends players logged into the game today to check out the newest event to hit Apex, Spellbound. Featuring plenty of new cosmetics, the return of the ever-popular Control LTM, and more, Spellbound was a great shake-up for a game that had grown a bit stale in one of its longest seasons.

There were also a few tweaks and changes to try out in the game that many players were curious to see how they would affect the game. One change, however, wasn’t mentioned in any of the patch notes leading up to the event.

Many players, including FURIA’s HisWattson, sounded the alarm on a potential Horizon shadow nerf. The nerf penalized Horizon’s accuracy while using her tactical ability, the Gravity Lift. Previously, it was quite simple to hit shots while moving around in the Gravity Lift, but as HisWattson demonstrates in the video above, weapon accuracy in the Gravity Lift took a serious hit with the new patch.

But is this change an intentional nerf or a bug? Here’s everything we know about the Horizon change in Apex.

Is the Horizon change in Apex Legends a bug or a nerf?

Clearly, this change functionally acted as a nerf to Horizon, whose ability to hit shots while strafing back and forth in her Gravity Lift was part of what made her such a strong fighting character. And according to Respawn, it was an unintentional nerf that has now been reverted back to the way Horizon functioned before the Spellbound event.

Related: Full Apex Legends patch notes: All Spellbound event changes and bug fixes

Rather than a bug, however, it seems that this could be a change that Apex devs are working on for the future which wasn’t meant to go live yet. Apex senior producer Josh Medina seemed to allude to as much on Twitter after Respawn made its announcement.

It wouldn’t make sense for the team to deliver such a sizable nerf with no announcement of it just before the Split One Playoffs in the Apex Legends Global Series, the largest and most prestigious Apex tournament in the world. Still, it seems like this accuracy change (or a version of it) might still be on the table for a future update. But for now, Horizon mains can spam their Gravity Lift and rain bullets down on their enemies in peace, and with perfect accuracy.