Summary
- Apex Legends reverted a controversial change to tap-strafing due to community feedback.
- Respawn shared that unintended consequences of the change from the mid-season update negatively impacted the movement mechanic.
- The community praised the reversion, showing appreciation for preserving skillful movement techniques.
Following fan feedback, Apex Legends has reverted a controversial change to tap-strafing. The original nerf to the movement technique came during the massive mid-season update for Season 23 of Apex Legends. Released on January 7 with the start of the Astral Anomaly Event, this mid-season update brought numerous balance changes for Legends and weapons.
While the patch made significant changes to Legends like Mirage and Loba in Apex Legends, one of the smaller notes in the Bug Fixes section frustrated a large portion of the community. Specifically, Respawn Entertainment added a “buffer” to tap-strafes, making the ability less effective in the game. For context, tap-strafing is an advanced movement technique in Apex Legends that players can use to quickly change directions in the air, making them more difficult to hit during fights. Despite the developer making the change to “combat automated movement tech at high frame rates,” many in the game’s community think things were taken too far.
What to Expect From Apex Legends in 2025
Apex Legends has had some ups and downs through 2024, leaving Respawn an incentive to innovate the shooter in a big way with 2025.
Fortunately, this appears to be a sentiment Respawn shares. Following community backlash, the developer announced the previous change to tap-strafing had been reverted. The message noted that the mid-season update change negatively impacted the movement mechanic in Apex Legends and admitted the change had unintended consequences. According to Respawn, while it would continue to look to “combat automated workarounds and degenerate play patterns” in Apex Legends, it would look to “preserve” the skill surrounding some movement techniques, such as tap-strafing.
Apex Legends Reverts Controversial Nerf to Tap-Strafing
This move by Respawn to revert the nerf to tap-strafing has been praised by the community. One of the things Apex Legends is known for is its movement. While the regular battle royale game mode does not feature wall running in the same sense as its Titanfall predecessors, players can pull off some incredible clips using various movement techniques, including tap-strafe. On Twitter, many players replied positively to the move by Respawn.
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this reversion to tap-strafing has in Apex Legends. It is unclear how many people stopped playing the game over the last few days because of the initial nerf. In addition, it is hard to tell if reverting the change will bring some lapsed players back.
It is worth noting that a lot has happened in the battle royale recently. In addition to the sweeping changes in the mid-season update, Apex Legends began the Astral Anomaly Event, bringing new cosmetics and a new version of the Launch Royale LTM. Respawn also noted that it values player feedback on the recent changes made to the game, so more updates could happen to fix other issues in the coming weeks.
Apex Legends
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 74%
- Released
- February 4, 2019
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Respawn Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Engine
- Source on console/PC, Unreal Engine 4 on mobile
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS4, Switch & Xbox One
WHERE TO PLAY
Conquer with character in Apex Legends, a free-to-play* Hero shooter where legendary characters with powerful abilities team up to battle for fame & fortune on the fringes of the Frontier.
Master an ever-growing roster of diverse legends, deep tactical squad play, and bold new innovations that go beyond the Battle Royale experience—all within a rugged world where anything goes. Welcome to the next evolution of Hero Shooter.
This game includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items, including a random selection of virtual in-game items.
- Cross Save
- Cross Progression lets you share your game progress across PC, PlayStation®, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, iOS, Android, Switch
- Genre(s)
- Battle Royale, First-Person Shooter
- X|S Optimized
- yes
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
