Apex Legends input lag on Xbox has a fix for Elite controllers

Replace July third, 4:38PM ET: Whereas EA, Respawn and Microsoft haven’t offered any remark or additional updates on the difficulty, I’ve discovered a repair that addresses the issue, a minimum of for Xbox gamers who use the Xbox Elite Wi-fi Controller Collection 2 with the directions from this Reddit publish, and detailed under.

Final week, EA’s battle royale shooter Apex Legends launched a “assortment occasion,” which is shorthand for a limited-time setup that’s principally about gamers shopping for a bunch of beauty gadgets from the in-game retailer. The one drawback is that this time, the large replace has made the sport almost unplayable for many individuals on consoles.

With out warning, the battle royale shooter’s often tight and responsive controls — a recognized amount for Respawn Leisure video games since Titanfall and a mirrored image of its Name of Obligation heritage — have change into gradual, laggy, and ceaselessly unresponsive. Even worse, merely taking part in the sport could make your management inputs really feel altered even within the dashboard, and whereas utilizing different video games; restarting the console appears to repair this situation. Gamers have discovered one technique to reliably tackle the difficulty, by rolling again firmware on sure Xbox wi-fi controllers, which I’ve confirmed works and you’ll learn on to search out the steps on easy methods to do it.

Gamers on Xbox Collection X consoles seem like complaining probably the most, particularly when paired with one in all Microsoft’s Elite gamepads. With none particular details about what the issue is, I can solely describe what I’ve skilled, which is a mixture of lag, in addition to failed enter detection that may make it exhausting to do issues like use burst fireplace weapons, change instructions, and even choose up gadgets from the bottom. After making an attempt it out a bit over the weekend, I observed enter lag as a problem probably the most whereas taking part in on Xbox Collection X and Collection S, utilizing each an Elite 2 gamepad, in addition to newer Xbox Collection gamepads that embody the share button.

Acknowledgment of the issue by builders has been restricted to a couple of reply tweets last week and one Monday afternoon saying the team is continuing to investigate. Nevertheless, not everybody who performs the sport follows its official Twitter account or dug into replies to search out the preliminary statements, leaving many gamers at nighttime about what could be happening whereas they attempt to play a aggressive shooter utilizing controls that simply don’t work.

As it’s, individuals who play the sport have been left to find the issue on their very own and cross round potential options. I attempted a few of them, like updating the controller firmware or not updating it or plugging the pad in with USB as an alternative of taking part in wirelessly. . Of these, plugging the gamepad in appeared to assist a bit, but it surely nonetheless wasn’t as responsive because it was. What I noticed was in step with some experiences posted on Reddit, the place plugging in appeared to repair the failed enter detection situation with out resolving the lag and stuttering. This publish highlights how, after taking part in Apex, they skilled enter lag system-wide on the dashboard and in different video games, which I additionally observed.

Whereas there haven’t been any updates from EA, Respawn, or Microsoft about what’s inflicting the issue, gamers appear to have discovered a minimum of one factor that mitigates the difficulty. For individuals who have a second-generation Elite gamepad, rolling the controller again to an Xbox One model of the controller’s firmware, for some purpose, restores the inputs to a playable state. I attempted this myself, and whereas the issue is so exhausting to understand that I can’t inform if it’s fully mounted, the sport felt noticeably higher and is totally playable.

This Reddit publish has the directions on what to do, and following them solved the issue of enter lag whereas making an attempt to play Apex Legends on my Xbox Collection X and Xbox Collection S consoles. You’ll want a PC working Home windows 10 or 11 (in the event you’re on a Mac, putting in Home windows in Boot Camp ought to work), the place you’ll be able to set up the Xbox Equipment app from the Microsoft Retailer.

After getting it, simply use a USB cable to plug the Elite 2 controller in. Then you definitely received’t truly use the app itself, because it doesn’t have a built-in button for the operate you want. As a substitute, open the Home windows run menu (you are able to do this by urgent the Home windows key in your keyboard and the letter r on the identical time), and sort on this total string, with out anything round it:

xboxaccessories:firmwareupdate?legacyDowngrade=true

Press the OK button. Then the app will open, and ask you to substantiate if it’s what you need to do. Say sure by urgent the button proven above labeled “Revert Firmware,” and it’ll set up the older firmware on the controller. Whenever you use your gamepad together with your Xbox, it’s going to inform you there’s a more moderen replace out there. You’ll be able to skip that by urgent the Xbox button on the controller and play as regular, and if it really works because it did on my system, then you must have a a lot better expertise, and I didn’t discover any points with different video games both.

My Halo Version Elite Wi-fi Controller Collection 2 confirmed model 5.13.3143.0 when it was up to date to probably the most present firmware out there. After utilizing the downgrade command to revert the firmware, it listed the model as 4.8.1908.0.

I attempted the identical course of on two customary Xbox Wi-fi controllers, each newer fashions with the Share button. The software program wouldn’t permit a rollback with the command, and making an attempt to play Apex Legends with both one nonetheless exhibited enter lag. One has been up to date to the newest firmware out there (5.13.3146.0), whereas the opposite is on an older model (5.11.3118.0).

Xbox Elite Collection 2

The Xbox Elite Collection 2 is well one in all our favourite controllers at The Verge. It’s an enchancment on the already glorious Elite Controller, with deep customization, non-compulsory rear paddle buttons, and a swappable D-pad and analog sticks that mean you can tailor its structure to fit your play type.

Oddly, this is probably not the one recreation with this situation on Xbox, as MLB The Present 22 gamers have complained about comparable issues, but it surely was one which didn’t exist inside Apex Legends previous to final week’s replace.

The just-launched Awakening occasion consists of a chance to play the popular Management mode once more, which additionally serves as an opportunity for brand new, or new-ish, gamers to present the sport’s characters a spin in a extra forgiving crew deathmatch-style setting than the sport’s customary battle royale or 3v3 enviornment choices.

Picture: Respawn Leisure

It additionally tweaked one of many recreation’s authentic characters, Lifeline, with better therapeutic skills to go together with a selected part on the World’s Edge map devoted to her and, for many who gather all of its gadgets, entry to a particular heirloom merchandise for the Valkyrie character. The builders additionally laid out some much-anticipated modifications to the sport’s ranked system that may take impact quickly. It could all be nice if solely taking part in the sport on Xbox wasn’t such a painful expertise, which looks like insult added to damage after the replace final week also cut off Xbox players for hours in the morning. For some purpose, the brand new model of the sport began downloading to consoles early, and because the servers weren’t prepared, that meant you couldn’t play this online-only recreation in any respect, and even making an attempt to launch it on Xbox was sufficient to provoke the replace.

In the meantime, over on Apex Legends Cellular (which is developed by a separate crew), gamers have extra than simply working servers and controls. They’ve bought entry to a mobile-exclusive legend, in addition to options gamers on the primary recreation have been asking for. That features skills added to characters just like the thief Loba, who is ready to seize respawn banners for vanquished teammates utilizing her Final potential, or the “holographic trickster” Mirage sending out decoys that seem like his teammates as an alternative of simply himself.

With Apex stricken on the platform I often use (and the place I’ve unlocked many in-game gadgets), I gave the cellular model a attempt. It isn’t actually sufficient to hit the spot — even whereas utilizing an actual controller by way of Bluetooth — however I respect what the crew behind it has been capable of accomplish. Proper now, it simply displays the place the bottom recreation is failing, each by way of usability and communication about no matter the issue is that’s happening.

The draw back of the repair that’s out there is that I can solely affirm this works with Elite 2 gamepads, I’ll try it out with different controllers and see if it really works on them too, however up to now experiences have been blended. A workaround that requires skipping by way of replace menus, and a $179.99 controller isn’t a lot of a repair in any respect, even when it really works for now. Respawn has issued a patch because the final replace, however as close to as anybody can inform, it doesn’t repair the enter situation by itself, and the one noticeable change is a brand new $5 tier to purchase in-game foreign money.

And, as some folks responding to this publish on social media have identified, this isn’t even the one drawback dealing with Apex Legends for the time being — in-game audio seems to be extra damaged than common, Loba’s teleportation bracelet fails extra typically than it really works, voice communications from gamers on Xbox are virtually completely ineffective with compressed and jittery audio, plus assorted complaints concerning the matchmaking, hit registration, scoring for ranked play and extra. Some folks have known as for a boycott of the sport all through August to push for modifications.