:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64838591/Screen_Shot_2019_07_27_at_1.10.32_PM.0.png)
An Apex Legends streamer has been reinstated after a one-in-a-million killshot got him a temporary ban on suspicion of cheating. It wasn’t; Otto “ottr” Bostrom really was just lucky.
Viewers thought they’d caught ottr using an aimbot when he vaulted a railing and his crosshairs appeared to snap to target. His reaction didn’t help, as confusedly stammering “Chat, don’t clip that,” sounded like someone trying to cover something up.
Ottr was manually banned by someone at Respawn after Dot Esports published a story about the kill on Thursday.
Respawn Entertainment has taken an extremely dim view of cheating in its new battle royale shooter, and delivers on promises of very aggressive moderation and enforcement. But ottr later went back to the same location and filmed himself jumping at the railing, weapon drawn and firing, to show how the snapping effect occurs.
It just so happened that player LOVE_FuryXD was in the crossfire as the snapped shot went off. Ottr took his explanation to senior designer Chin Xiang Chong on Twitter, who recognized the mistake and reinstated him.
Hi there, normally I'd ask you to follow the appeals process by going here ( https://t.co/jollrwAz91 ) but I understand the extenuating circumstances. Ban has been revoked, we've talked to the dev who did the manual banning. Thanks for your patience! :)
— Chin Xiang Chong (@tangentiallogic) July 26, 2019
Ottr, notes Dot Esports, is an Apex Legends semipro affiliated with an Italian team. He is also an Overwatch pro with victories in a couple of tournaments. So suspicion of cheating for him has ramifications beyond a simple temp ban, which is probably why he pleaded his case directly.
Respawn has handed out bans to hundreds of thousands of accounts since Apex Legends launched in February on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One. Most recently, developers said they’re looking into ways to curb keyboard-and-mouse use on Xbox One.
