The Apex Legends Global Series Championship came to its exciting conclusion on June 6, when Team Kungarna (formerly known as Bottom 20) surprised the world to clinch the North American title.
However last week, APAC South team Athaim, which placed third in its region’s Championship Final, voiced concerns about the competitive integrity of the ALGS Championship. Athaim player ‘Oatto’ accused other teams of cheating, and believed that teams using faster hardware also had an advantage that would become apparent when LANs return. “We feel this online event has made some players look better than they really are, due to cheating or fast PCs,” he told The Loadout. “At LANs [there is] an even playing field – no hiding cheats in your parent’s house.”
Athaim’s founder Oluwadamilola ‘Ritehero’ Akinleye confirmed to The Loadout that the accusations were specifically suggesting that opposing teams used aimbots in the tournament. However, the team did not specify which opponents it believed were cheating.
The Loadout asked the ALGS commissioner John Nelson about the accusations, and he strongly denies that any cheating occurred during the ALGS Championship. “We investigate cheating allegations,” he explains. “We work diligently to prevent, first of all, that cheaters are even able to register for our competitions. But we also have no evidence to suggest that there was any cheating in APAC South or any of the other regional Championship Finals.”
While the investigation didn’t find any evidence to support claims of cheating in the online tournament, Nelson is as keen as anyone to return to live events. He is looking forward to watching metas collide and seeing which team emerges victorious.
“No one is more excited to return to live events than I am,” he tells The Loadout. “I can’t wait until we’re able to bring the best from each region back together to see who the best in the world is.”
Nelson didn’t note when we might see live Apex Legends esports events return, but fans will have a hell of a tournament on their hands when it is safe to do so.
Stay tuned for The Loadout’s full interview with John Nelson later this week, in which he talks us through the regional tournament structure, plans for the future, and the controversial Match Point format.
