We’re not even a full week into Apex Legends Season 13, and already the modifications to the battle royale’s ranked mode are causing a bit of a stir. For this season, Respawn has altered the way that you earn RP in ranked matches, and it’s generally made moving up the Apex Legends ranks tougher than in previous seasons.
Yesterday, a Reddit post highlighting Season 13’s rank distribution sparked a lot of conversation around whether the ranked changes have improved or worsened the ranked experience. While it is slightly trivial to look at rank distribution this early in a split, the post in question does show that the majority of players have failed to move past the first three ranks of Rookie (newly added for Season 13), Bronze 4, and Bronze 3.
With the climb up the ranks clearly getting tougher, and the emphasis on placements and teamwork becoming a talking point for solo players, a lot of casual players have been quick to find fault with the new system. However, for the battle royale’s top players, the changes are being seen as a real positive, and many have praised and defended the changes.
One of the most notable is TSM’s Apex Legends star Phillip ‘ImperialHal’ Dosen, who hit back at criticism from solo queuers that were struggling to rank up.
“I feel like it’s reasonable to have a threshold for solo queuers to reach,” ImperialHal says during a Twitch stream. “The game is a team game, you have to three-stack. If you’re not, you’re just handicapping yourself and only gonna get so far with it.”
ImperialHal also questions why casual players are so concerned with what happens at the top end of the ranked ladder, which only the very best or most dedicated Apex players are able to reach in a given season.
While they admit there are still some creases to iron out, competitive players seem to generally be pleased with Apex Legends’ ranked changes. Only time will tell whether the rest of the community can be won over and get used to the new system.