Only less than a month before the start of the Apex Legends Global Series Championship 2022, multiple Apex Legends pros decided to share their troublesome experiences with attending the event. Besides visa issues, players are also unable to practice.
Ahead of the title’s biggest esports event, Apex Legends athletes decided to speak up about the inability to practice as a result of the latest game update, which has caused severe server crashes and instability of private lobbies. Furthermore, by picking U.S., the organizers didn’t make it particularly easy for some players to attend.
Less than a month til the Biggest Apex tournament ever and still no practice to be done since Customs are still not fixed 🙂 Nice 👍
— TSMFTX ImperialHal (@ImperialHal) June 10, 2022
Visa issues
In addition to the lack of training, some players might not be able to participate in the event at all as a result of visa issues. More specifically, Element 6 player Ali “Naghz” Naghawi joined the Twitter complaints, sharing his own troubles with travelling to the United States.
should have been I would not have this problem with the US VISA. I have no more options as I have tried everything and from what I have gathered EA & PGL doesn't truly have any power in this situation once the expedited procedure has been denied.
— Naghz (@Naghzz) June 14, 2022
According to his words, Naghz is ineligible for obtaining a U.S. visa because, in 2013, he visited family in Iran. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization of the U.S. prevents anyone who has travelled to Iran after March 1, 2011, from obtaining an entry visa. Naghz says that his visa was not approved and therefore he won’t be able to attend the ALGS Championship, set to take place in Raleigh, North Carolina between July 7 and July 10.
This is not the first time the organizer has failed to ensure that players are able to travel and participate in the ALGS events. Most recently, multiple players were unable to travel to Sweden during the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs, leaving teams having to find substitutes for their players in the most important Apex competitions.
In 2013 I visited my family in Iran and because of that I am not eligible anymore to apply for the ESTA VISA which what most players have in the UK I think.
— Naghz (@Naghzz) June 14, 2022
Low-quality PCs
Apart from visa issues, the ALGS LAN event in Stockholm also sparked a backlash among Apex pro players just two days prior to its launch at the end of April. The organizers failed to secure high-end PCs for the event, and so players had to play on older, less-powerful setups with a high probability of lagging during the high-stake matches.
This announcement just got reverted and we’re back to the original low spec PC’s to celebrate the first Apex LAN in 2,5 years. Sad and frustrating that all players will be limited on showing off their hard work they’ve put up over the past 2 years of #ALGS competition.
Big L👎 https://t.co/tWoMnQPOLO
— Alliance | Pontus 🏌🏼♂️ (@chefPontus) April 27, 2022
Road to another ruined EA title?
Electronic Arts’ approach towards its Apex Legends’ professional circuit seems to be lacking in multiple places. Besides the unfairness to those players who worked for their spots and couldn’t attend the ALGS tournaments, the inability to practice before the season-concluding event, as well as the insufficient equipment, is undoubtedly a source of frustration for many Apex professionals.
Let’s not forget that Apex Legends is EA’s most popular game that generated over $2 billion in sales since its launch, yet the passiveness of ALGS organizers continues to notably damage the league itself. With the currently broken game and seriously deficient professional league, EA might want to reconsider its approach before it ruins another good title.
Header: Electronic Arts