According to an official tweet from Apex Legends developer Respawn entertainment, the popular mechanic of tap-strafing will be removed in the next Apex Legends update. While this mechanic could be argued to be essential to a lot of players’ movements, public opinions are very mixed when it comes to the mechanic. One of the larger issues with the mechanic is the inability to recreate the movement on console platforms, often giving PC players that master the mechanic the instant advantage in close-quarters fights. Community members aren’t too keen on this reasoning, arguing that Aim Assist in Apex Legends is just as strong, and PC players don’t get it.
Community Reactions on the Tap-Strafing Removal
A variety of Apex Legends professional players, streamers, and community members have been quite vocal in voicing their concerns when it comes to the removal of the tap-strafing feature. Here are a few reactions from popular community ambassadors:
“Aimbotters and cheaters also lack readability/counterplay, and are exacerbated by speedhacks. But you still see me trying to kill them in ranked after 8 seasons straight.” ShivFPS on Twitter.
“Welp, what little fun movement outside of a pathfinder grapple we had left is gone. May as well just play tarkov, warzone or splitgate. Really didn’t think you guys would do it especially after how much flak you got for removing bhop healing.” TSM Albralelie on Twitter.
“Hey Respawn, I saw that you removed Tap-Strafing. Instead of, you know, catering to console players, why not catering to us PC gamers that major game… and remove aim assist, AKA legal hacking.” Trainwreckstv on Twitter.
As you can see, the community does not seem to be happy with the change, arguing it is a skilled ability that was taken out due to console players’ inability to keep up with it. One thing is for sure, no matter what you think tap-strafing is soon to be a thing of the past, for better or worse.
Apex Legends: Emergence is available now on Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC platforms.
