Apex Legends Tap-Strafing Nerf Delayed to Future Patch

Respawn's plans for an Apex Legends tap-strafing nerf have been put on hold on PC and consoles due to "unexpected side effects" in the Battle Royale game.


Published: September 13, 2021 1:41 PM /

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Apex Legends Tap-Strafing Nerf delayed cover

Respawn Entertainment has announced that it's delaying the planned Apex Legends tap-strafing nerf, pushing back the removal of a high-skill movement ability for its Battle Royale on PC and consoles.

Apex Legends is still going strong and is currently in its 10th Season. The game has continued to evolve and may be debuting a new tropical map in Season 11, increasing the pool of Battle Royale maps in the game to a total of four.

Part of this evolution includes a reassessment of how movement works in Apex Legends, and that led Respawn Entertainment to the conclusion that it was going to remove tap-strafing from the game. Those plans have now changed according to a new announcement from Respawn.

Apex Legends Tap-Strafing Nerf delayed slice

Why the Apex Legends Tap-Strafing Nerf is Being Delayed

The Apex Legends tap-strafing nerf is being delayed due to concerns over unspecified "unexpected side effects" to the game.

"The @playapex  team has recently discovered some unexpected side effects of our planned changes to tap-strafing," read a short Twitter thread from Respawn Entertainment. "It is still our intention to address some of the most egregious use-cases of tap-strafing, but for now we are delaying our planned change to a later patch."

"Movement is sacred in Apex. We weigh every change to these systems carefully and value feedback," the Twitter thread continued. "After further testing, we've concluded we need to take more time to get this right to make sure related movement mechanics aren't caught in the cross-fire."

Respawn Entertainment did not explain what the side effects were. Presumably, these changes would have some other kind of negative impact on the game's movement systems and will take more time than originally anticipated to work everything out.

For now, Apex Legends players can look forward to tomorrow's launch of the Evolution Collection Event which debuts some pretty big changes to Rampart. You can get into the action yourself by playing Apex Legends for free on PC and consoles via its official website.

Are you relieved to hear that the Apex Legends tap-strafing nerf is being delayed or do you think this movement ability needs to go? What's the biggest change that Respawn Entertainment needs to make to the game? Let us know in the comments below!

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