EA rolls out Javelin anti-cheat for Apex Legends PC

EA will switch the PC version of Apex Legends to its in-house Javelin anti-cheat on Sept. 29. The change directs cheat detection and enforcement for the game through tools managed by Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment. Work on console protections will continue while the PC rollout begins.

EA reported that Javelin is already in use on 20 games and that the platform has helped secure 57.1 million players. Over the past year the company reported it blocked more than 26.7 million accounts for cheating and that Javelin’s detections identify over 99% of cheaters it evaluates.

When Javelin runs on PC, enforcement actions and detection data will be handled through EA and Respawn systems rather than third-party anti-cheat products. The company described the change as a consolidation of PC defenses under its internal platform and said account actions will be processed using its own tools.

Console anti-cheat work remains under development. EA reported it is building additional data models and detection methods for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2 to identify behaviors that indicate cheating on those platforms. Recent updates have targeted unauthorized controller hardware and third-party programs that alter controller inputs. New detections for cheating devices and programs were added in September.

EA has deployed Javelin progressively across its PC catalog. The publisher described Javelin as combining client-side detection, server-side analytics and account enforcement to identify and remove offending players.

Apex Legends has experienced persistent cheating on both PC and consoles, leading Respawn and EA to expand anti-cheat resources and platform-specific detection methods. The PC switch to Javelin is the immediate change; console-specific tools are expected to continue evolving as EA develops additional models and detections.