Players who do not actively participate in a round of Apex Legends now run the risk of being banned from the game, development studio Respawn Interactive announced. The controversial change sparked fierce debates online.

According to the development studio, piggy-backing is when a player drafts off other players in the squad to carry them to a good position and level up faster but doesn't actually participate in the match.

The change comes after the studio investigated data it had collected. The game will now award temporary bans to players that exhibit piggy-backing behavior and extreme cases could lead to a permanent ban. This change will not be immediately implemented.

Some players noted that automatic banning could have adverse affects on gameplay as players can find out what the minimal required effort is to not get banned. This could further degrade the gameplay experience.