Apex Legends is gearing up for its Global Series Season 2 by adding cross-platform accessibility. Announced during EA Play Live 2021, this is happening due to the unexpected number of participants in the previous ALGS.
The winning prize in the professional circuit for Apex Legends Global Series Season 2 is a total of $5 million USD, a step up from last year's $2.5 million USD prize. Along with the bigger pot comes more competition for amateurs and pros alike due to cross-platform play, ultimately started because the community exceeded the developer's expectations in total hours watched for Year 1.
What To Expect From Global Series Year 2
September marks the beginning of the pre-season that ends in October, and players can participate across all platforms. There are five regions: North America, Europe, APAC South, APAC North, South America, and finally the Middle East and Africa. Each region will have 40 teams competing for the top 16 that will compete in the Split 1 circuit. With the added cross-play, players on Xbox and PlayStation will be competing on the same servers as PC players.
Console players may be worried about competing against the accuracy allowed by keyboard and mouse players, but the developer counters this by giving all controller players a PC-value aim assist to even the playing field. This means that PC players will have to stay just as vigilant against console players. The verdict on how this will affect gameplay will not be available until the season starts. However, there may be some worry from fans because of previous faulty matchmaking systems.
EA's Strategy for Cross-Play
The previous Apex Legends Global Series exceeded expectations despite some events having to be suspended due to COVID-19, with the average minute audience up by 32 percent across all five regions. With a playerbase of over 100 million in March 2021, EA and Respawn clearly hope to bring even more players and viewers in by integrating cross-play. Apex Legends continues to be a hot topic in the online battle royale sphere, as it was the number one trending game on Twitter during the last ALGS.
PC players will also have the chance to make it through pre-season qualifiers, meaning that those across all platforms have the chance to compete against the invited teams in the Pro League Split 1. All other players that do not qualify will be able to compete in the regular Challenger Circuit. This means that amateur players can make a name for themselves in the pro world. The invited teams for each region have not been announced yet, but EA claims it will soon.
A Growing Global Series
With amateur players mixing with professional teams, the scheduling details are more important than ever. Registration for the pre-season qualifiers will begin as early as August 18, 2021, and then matches will air September 11 to 13, September 25 to 27, October 2 to 4, and October 8 to 11. Along with the number one team for each region, the top 16 teams from each region with the highest cumulative points over their four matches will qualify for Pro League Split 1. All other players will participate in the Challenger Circuit Split 1, and fans can find the season's scheduling information on EA's official website.
This upcoming season is generating a lot of hype for Apex Legends. Fans of the battle royale game are getting cross-platform play along with a chance to make a name for themselves globally. All of that is made possible by fans continuing to engage with Apex Legends content as respawn works to please its fanbase. With season 10 and the new character Seer on the way, hype for the game is picking up.
Apex Legends is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.