The DDOS protection doesn’t apply to lower ranks.
Apex Legends is receiving a lot of love in 2023. Respawn Entertainment has been delivering W after W this year. This time, they've addressed one of the major issues plaguing ranked lobbies. Players in higher ranks have been calling on the developers to address Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks by cheaters for a long time now. And it looks like they've not just taken notice of the issue but are actively addressing it. Respawn Entertainment has rolled out improved DDOS protection for Apex Legends ranked lobbies, at least at higher ranks.
The DDOS issue has been prevalent in Apex Legends ranked for a long time now, and the community has been imploring the devs to at least comment on it. Respawn Entertainment doesn't have an excellent record when it comes to dealing with DDOS cheaters and hackers. Titanfall 2 servers continue to face DDOS attacks even now. An infamous DDOS attack on Apex Legends in 2021 by a hacker claiming to be a part of the #SaveTitanfall movement led to quite an uproar. Eventually, this hacker was uncovered as someone trying to get hired by Respawn Entertainment to develop his own "Titanfall 3".
Improved DDOS protection for Diamond-Predator
While DDOSing has been one of the go-to tactics for cheaters in Apex Legends for a while now, it's more prevalent in higher ranks. Or at least, much more disruptive at higher ranks because of the higher stakes involved from dropped negative RPs. Fewer players in the Bronze-Gold tiers complain because they don't lose much RP at these ranks. Respawn's announcement claims that the improved DDOS protection is in-effect at Diamond, Master, and Predator ranks.
DDOS attacks are a long-running issue in Apex Legends
DDOS attacks have been plaguing Apex Legends ranked lobbies for a long time now. The issue was at its peak in 2021 and some of the pro players even ran a #SaveApexRanked movement on Twitter. Top players within the community including ImperialHal, HisWattson, and Rogue have been vocal about the issue for a while. The DDOS attacks and the uproar over them did reduce in 2022 but they were still disrupting higher ranks.
The Titanfall community and lower-ranked players are unhappy
Of course, that's not to say everyone is happy about this update. The DDOS protection doesn't apply to lower ranks, so needless to say, plenty of the players who grind these ranks are upset. Along with them, the Titanfall community, which has been calling on Respawn Entertainment to address the massive DDOS attacks plaguing the game's servers is also upset. A lot of them feel the developers are neglecting Titanfall 2 with the attention Apex Legends receives. Titanfall and Titanfall 2, despite being nearly a decade old still have a loyal active community.
Nevertheless, this is yet another feather in Respawn Entertainment's cap in 2023. They've been actively communicating with players and addressed several issues over the last few weeks. These include SBMM changes and new LTMs. It looks like they have big plans for Apex Legends this year and it's great to see it in action.