The recent Aim Assist fix in The Finals has renewed frustrations amongst Apex Legends players critical of Respawn. It’s an old complaint but a valid one. Aim Assist, a feature that automatically adjusts the targeting of controller players, has long been a point of controversy in competitive FPS games. Losing because your opponent is more skilled is one thing. Losing because your opponent happens to use a controller is another. When fans of The Finals spoke out against its implementation of AA, Embark Studios quickly fixed it. Why won’t Respawn do the same?
Aim Assist Fixes in The Finals vs. Apex Legends
Although we don’t know the exact percentage, it’s fair to say that controller players make up a large portion of the Apex community, judging by the game’s sales across various platforms. Doing the right thing for the game in terms of balance risks upsetting the many players who enjoy the perks of Aim Assist, just like changing tap strafing would. AA is such an entrenched part of Apex that even pro players often use controllers to benefit from this feature. To be fair, Aim Assist in Apex isn’t nearly as impactful as it is in some other FPS, but that doesn’t let Respawn off the hook for failing to make necessary adjustments.
Seeing Embark respond to community feedback and adjust AA in The Finals just highlights the glacial pace of Respawn changes. Why do the Apex Legends devs seem so afraid of updating Aim Assist? Fear of disrupting balance hasn’t stopped them from buffing, nerfing, and reworking things in the past, after all. It feels in this case they’re afraid of upsetting the huge number of controller players, even if the game would benefit. Patches aren’t written in stone. Respawn needs to be brave and make some changes. If the experiment doesn’t work out, the devs can always revert them.
Apex Legends is available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
