For the past couple of years, Respawn Entertainment’s multiplayer first-person shootersTitanfallandTitanfall 2have been plagued by repeated DDoS attacks, which result in ping so high as to make the games unplayable, or make it impossible for the games’ massive player base to even log in. Because Respawn is perceived to not be working hard enough to fix the ongoing issues, someTitanfallfans have tried to find their own solutions.
The ongoingDDoS problems withTitanfall 1and2are attributed to one or two solitary hackers, who have a grudge against Respawn. One possible culprit is a player called Tufi, who was caught cheating inApex Legendsand had legal issues with EA, Respawn’s parent company and publisher. Another possible hacker currently goes by Jeanue, but has used various names over the years.
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ATitanfallplayer recently shared a post on Medium in which they provided a tutorial showing how to fix the game. The author of the post, p0358, explains that they have spent countless hours reverse engineeringTitanfall,researching its design, and pinpointing the various potential exploits and flaws with the game’s engine. “I am publishing this,” says p0358, “because I am frustrated at how they struggle to fix everything… and because I know they would not manage to find and fix everything from here on their own.” In summary, the tutorial consists of 12 steps that must be taken in order to protect against future attacks.
The nearly 5000-word post seems to be addressed directly at theTitanfallteam assigned to fix the hacks, as many of the recommended fixes must be implemented server side, and p0358 makes it clear that every single proposed change must be completed to guard against future hacks. The tutorial covers everything from the allowable character length of player names, unnecessary and exploitable information that is sent client-side, and even how to prevent the apparently very simpleTitanfallDDoS attacks.
One of the reasons for the unresolved DDoS problems is Respawn’s narrowed focus onApex Legends,the developer’s more popular franchise. This has resulted in unacceptable neglect of the two older games, according to many fans. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, Respawn Community Coordinator Jason Garza revealed that onlyone or two people are currently working on theTitanfallDDoS issues“because everybody else is onApex.”Not surprisingly, this disclosure outraged manyTitanfallplayers.
Earlier in July, a disgruntledTitanfallplayer hackedApex Legendsin protest of the developer’s lack of attention toTitanfall.After exiting anApexmatch, a popup would appear that directed players to the website savetitanfall.com. Almost as confirmation of fans’ perception, Respawn fixed theApex Legendshack within six hours, which only further upsetTitanfallplayers. And the developer stated that hackingApex Legendswill not impact its dedication toTitanfall,and the company is hiring additional team members to develop anti-hack tools forApex Legendsand ban cheaters.
Titanfallis available on PC and Xbox One.
