Apex Legends streamer claims aim assist is “soft aimbot” after testing it on full strength

An Apex Legends Twitch streamer has called out the game’s aim assist, claiming it functions like a “soft aimbot” that gives controller players a huge advantage.

The debate between console and PC players over who has the greatest advantage in Apex Legends has been raging on for years. Top players like ImperialHal have called out the aim assist granted to controller users, claiming it offers them an unfair advantage that can be easily abused.

The extra accuracy offered by playing with a mouse and keyboard is made up for with aim assist for controller players, which means their weapon will snap onto an enemy and follow them up to a point.

Twitch streamer Nayr shared a clip attempting to prove just how effective aim assist can be in Apex Legends, and it’s reignited the controversial debate once again.

The video, which he said was for “anyone who argues that AA isn’t [a] soft aimbot,” showed the aim assist tracking an enemy’s movements with virtually no input from the player. However, it’s worth noting that the aim assist had been dialed up to 100% from the usual 60% on console, and 40% on PC controllers.

As you’d expect, there were many replies who disagreed with Nayr’s take, insisting that aim assist is needed for controllers players.

“Idk why y’all can’t get it through your head that its entire reason for existing is to compensate for dead zone. Without it you wouldn’t be able to track at all with the delay,” argued one reply. “Is this argument still going? Grow up, aim assist is what it is, both have advantages and disadvantages, seriously, learn to counter it,” said another.

Others pointed out that turning the setting up beyond what is possible on regular consoles and PCs was always going to make it seem unfair.

“I don’t understand this. It’s a modded build that set it to 100% which in turn made it a literal aimbot,” said another player. “AA isn’t aimbot because any dev would never give it 100% tracking. It’s meant to assist, not auto-aim.”

Others supported the streamer’s arguments, believing that aim assist should close the gap between controllers and mouse and keyboard, but not be as effective as the clip showed.

Apex Legends is far from the only game where this debate is taking place. The likes of Warzone and Overwatch have also seen divides between the two player bases.

As crossplay becomes a more widely used feature across various games, and PC and controller players encounter each other in the same lobbies more frequently, it’s hard to imagine this is the last time the subject comes up.