Respawn Will Not Be Removing Tap Strafing From Apex Legends for Now

Respawn Entertainment revealed that while attempting to remove tap strafing from Apex Legends, the dev team ran into issues and will not be removing the movement mechanic as a result. However, it does not mean that tap strafing will not be removed ever, it will just take some time until Respawn decides on the right course of action. The removal of tap strafing was expected today along with the Apex Legends Collection event patch, but players who enjoy the movement tech will now have more time to tinker with the mechanic until a later patch.

What is tap strafing in Apex Legends

Tap strafing is a movement tech that allows PC players to achieve unintended aerial maneuverability. It can be particularly useful on legends like Horizon, Octane, and Pathfinder but it can be used by any legend regardless of their movement kit. Respawn originally intended to remove tap strafing from the game as it is not accessible to players of all platforms to the same extent, and it led to a community uproar.

When will tap strafing be removed from Apex Legends

Currently, there is no estimated date for when tap strafing will be removed from Apex Legends. Respawn revealed that, “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 stated that “movement is sacred in Apex” and the developers want to weigh every change to the movement systems in place to get the changes just right to ensure other movement mechanics do not get caught in the cross-fire.

After the removal of tap strafing was first announced, a part of the Apex Legends community wanted aim assist nerfed. Some players felt that tap strafing counters the aim assist advantage that controller players have access to. Respawn responded to it stating that “the asks of increasing aim assist at range or improving the looting flow on controller are not as easy as changing a couple of numbers. Some things are deeply engrained in muscle memory where it’s not worth touching. Others require a lot more resources to make sure we get it right.”

With Apex Legends esports events allowing both controllers and mouse and keyboard, it will be interesting to see how Respawn handles balancing for both input methods moving forward. Even content creators like Herschel ‘Dr Disrespect’ Beahm IV feel that aim assist needs to be looked at in FPS games and it looks like the debate between MnK and controller players will continue as more games enable crossplay or launch with it.