Apex Legends is one of the most popular battle royale games on the market, and thanks to recent efforts by EA and Respawn Entertainment the game continues to push into the esports landscape. During EA Play Live, it was revealed that Emergence, the latest update for the game, will launch on August 3. With this release, fans will not only be introduced to the brand-new Legend Seer, but there will also be a substantial update to Arenas mode that will add a ranking system.
Ranked Arenas is set to be completely separate from Ranked Battle Royale, the mode for which Apex Legends is best known. It does, however, offer a lot of potential when it comes to esports, and could result in some groundbreaking advances for the franchise. Many players have been waiting for a Ranked Arenas mode to be incorporated into Apex Legends ever since the alternative battle arena released earlier this year, and this new mode will give players the chance to take these 3v3 skirmishes more seriously.
Important Things To Note About Ranked Arenas
Arenas is a 3v3 skirmish mode where players can purchase the equipment they want to use at the start of every match and the last team left standing wins, offering fans a different experience to what they are familiar with in the more conventional Battle Royale mode. While Ranked Arenas will function similarly to the Battle Royale ranked mode, there are a few notable differences. There will be no ranked points (RP) cost for playing matches, but there will also be no demotion protection, which essentially means that players can drop entire ranks if they lose. There will also no splits in Ranked Arenas, at least in the beginning. This could potentially change in future seasons, but for now players will have all of Season 10 to work on their rank and get awarded at the end.
Ranked Arenas will have traditional Apex Legends ranks like Bronze, Silver, and Gold, going all the way up to Predator. Before receiving their rank, Apex Legends players will first have to take part in 10 placement matches in order to establish their starting Matchmaking Rank (MMR). This invisible MMR score, according to the official website, is the underlying number used to determine who players will be matched against. Determining a player’s rank will ultimately come down to match wins, meaning there will be less focus placed on kills when trying to earn Arena Points. It has been noted that MMR variance is going to be wider during these placement matches, and so the first few games might be quite rough for some. Once a player is ranked, the amount of Arena Points awarded for winning will start to shrink as their rank converges with their MMR, and so a player's rank at the end of the season will be more accurate than at the beginning.
Maps in Ranked Arenas will change once an hour, while unranked Arenas will continue to rotate every 15 minutes. The map rotation in Arenas will include all three Arenas-exclusive maps - Phase Runner, Party Crasher, and Overflow - paired with one Battle Royale location that will change every fortnight.
Finally, one of the biggest issues fans had with the casual Arenas mode was players leaving midway through a match with no consequences, resulting in the opposing team having an unfair advantage. Ranked Arenas aims to fix this issue, as there will be temporary matchmaking bans if a player leaves games. The deserter's teammates will be awarded Loss Forgiveness, which will keep them from losing Arena Points.
Apex Legends as an Esports Title
While the battle royale genre enjoys critical acclaim and mainstream appeal, it generally fails to perform in terms of esports events. However, things have been shaping up for Apex Legends when it comes to esports success. With the development of Apex Legends Mobile, it is becoming more viable as an esports title than ever.
Apex Legends Arenas mode solves a lot of the problems arising from the battle royale genre, and despite the issues noticed by players it already looks like a far better fit for esports events than the regular game. By reducing the number of competitors, organizers have more flexibility in tournament formats, and players are provided with a more controlled environment that puts their skills to the test with better highlights for the nuanced teamwork and co-operation involved in this style of game. It not only gives them a better chance to illustrate their skills, but also gives spectators a much more concentrated game to watch. Ranked Arenas, then, certainly has the potential for esports success, as it will amplify the fast-paced combat of the unranked mode with far more at stake to lose.
The biggest question for fans of Apex Legends is whether or not Ranked Arenas will build on what was learned from the problems that arose in the unranked mode. However, Respawn and EA have not given fans much reason to doubt the potential that this new permanent update holds when Emergence launches. It could, in fact, bring a lot of new players to the game and enable the franchise to grow. If Apex Legends can imitate the popularity of its Battle Royale ranked leagues, Ranked Arenas could ultimately serve as the force it needs to truly break ground in the esports landscape.
Apex Legends: Emergence will launch on August 3 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.