[GameSpot] - Apex Legends' Upcoming Update Won't Remove Tap-Strafing After All

[343iBot]

Apex Legends' next update was primed to remove the game's controversial tap-strafing mechanic from the game, but upon further testing, Respawn says it will be delaying the removal of the move to a later patch in an effort to ensure there are not unexpected side effects in relation to the game's other movement mechanics.

Tap-strafing involves players on PC mapping the forward movement key to the mousewheel in order to pull off rapid changes in direction. Given the fact that the move can only be performed on PC--and that it's not an intended gameplay mechanic but was instead discovered by players-- Respawn announced it would be removing the move, citing its lack of readability and the effect it had on the game when combined with Apex Legends' various other movement enhancing abilities.

The @playapex team has recently discovered some unexpected side effects of our planned changes to tap-strafing.
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.

— Respawn (@Respawn) September 13, 2021

"Movement is sacred in Apex," Respawn states in a tweet. "We weigh every change to these systems carefully and value feedback. 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."

The recent patch notes for Apex Legends' upcoming update included an in-depth analysis for why Respawn chose to remove the move, alongside a note about the removal of the ability to bind forward movement to the mousewheel.

But though the removal of tap-strafing will have to wait, numerous other changes are still coming to Apex Legends. Rampart will be receiving some significant buffs alongside a collection event running from September 14-28 that will see her takeover part of the World's Edge battle royale map. The patch will also see balance updates to other legends like Octane and Bloodhound alongside various weapon balance changes.

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