Respawn has announced that it will remove tap-strafing (a movement technique used by PC players) from the game in its next patch. It’s been seen by some as a controversial move from the developer, and feedback from across the community has been polarised.
News of the removal of tap-strafing was shared by Respawn on their Twitter account. The company said, “After much consideration and debate, we’ve decided to remove tap-strafing from [Apex Legends] in patch 10.1. Our reasoning: It’s inaccessible, lacks readability/counterplay, and is exacerbated by movement abilities.”
After much consideration and debate, we’ve decided to remove tap-strafing from @playapex in patch 10.1.
Our reasoning: It’s inaccessible, lacks readability/counterplay, and is exacerbated by movement abilities.
The next patch notes will include a more detailed note about this.
— Respawn (@Respawn) August 31, 2021
Prior to its removal, criticism towards the inclusion of tap-strafing within the game could predominantly be heard from the community’s console players. The high skill movement technique can only be achieved on PC and essentially involves a combination of air strafing, b-hopping, and movement adjustments to modify a player’s momentum in the air, allowing them to turn sharply and precisely mid-flight.
Despite it being felt by some players that the inclusion of tap-strafing within the game was unfair, its removal has also seen outcry. Across the game’s subreddit, some Apex players have complained that the removal of tap-strafing hugely impacts PC players who utilize a movement-based playstyle within the game. In a similar vein, others felt that the change acted as a nerf for PC players generally, who would still come up against controller players aided in combat by aim assist.
The removal of tap-strafing isn’t the only recent change to Apex that has come following community pressure. After the launch of Apex’s newest Legend, Seer, the studio took the decision to nerf the character following criticism from its fanbase who felt like a number of the character’s abilities were unbalanced and broke the action of Apex Legends.
Apex Legends’ tenth season kicked off on August 3 and will run for the foreseeable future. If you’re just starting out in the game then make sure to check out our top five tips and tricks for beginners in the game.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
