Following feedback from professional Apex Legends players, Respawn has made the decision to drop the reworked Kings Canyon from the map pool for the upcoming Global Series Winter Circuit.
According to a tweet from Apex’s competitive gaming and league operations manager, Zac Conely, Kings Canyon is also unlikely to return until after the ALGS Championship, which will take place soon after the Winter Circuit ends in late March. This means we can expect at least a couple of months without Apex’s OG map featuring in competitive play. While Kings Canyon will remain in the map pool for those climbing the Apex Legends ranks, it appears that previous issues around the quality of “late-game zones” have returned following the maps’ layout changes for Season 8.
This means that only World’s Edge and Olympus will be playable at the ALGS Championship. While all the details around the tournament are yet to be announced, we do know that it will have a $1 million prize pool. It will also feature 60 teams with certain allocations for each ALGS region, causing many to believe it will be a LAN event. And now we also know it will be Kings Canyon-less.
While a few have voiced disappointment that the game’s original map won’t feature in competitive play for some time, the overwhelming response to the decision from pro players was positive.
🚨ALGS Update🚨
🔹Due to late-game zone quality concerns and feedback from ALGS players, Kings Canyon will be removed from the ALGS map pool until after the ALGS Championship.
Thank you everyone for your detailed feedback!
— Zac Conely / Tab (@TheeTabris) February 9, 2021
Season 8 saw a number of changes come to the map, including new points of interest and reworked rotation routes. Whether the issue with late-game zones is down to the new layout, or is simply an old gremlin that has returned, is yet to be confirmed.
