Realm returns with a new league and format, starting on May 15, 2023, featuring the best pro teams across North America.
First entering Apex Legends on March 5, 2023, Realm announced the SoloQ League, featuring cash prizes for daily participation and leaderboard placement at the end of each three-month season, with additional leagues to be added to Realm’s matchmaking services in May.
On May 5, Realm tweeted details about their new league, restricted to the top professional North American teams. The Realm Champions League will run over three months, with a prize pool of $120,000, and broadcasts every weekday night at 6pm CT.
In comparison to Realm’s previous SoloQ League, the new format does not feature open registration, or the highly controversial vouch feature. All pro teams will be directly invited to the league, with more details to be announced in the coming days.
However, while the SoloQ League featured NA and EMEA servers, the Champions League is only in North America, with future plans to expand into EMEA once Realm’s competitive ecosystem has been established. Realm has also gained support from EA and Respawn, and none of its matches will directly interfere with the ALGS Pro League schedule, just like the original SoloQ League.
Many pros flocked to compete in Realm, and were immediately surprised with the quality of matches, with some calling it the best alternative to pro scrims and the ranked ladder. Apex is currently plagued with hackers in high-level lobbies, glitches taking away from competitive integrity, and the lack of motivation in scrims, making the experience even better for all Realm participants.
Despite the strong praise for Realm’s innovative league format, many pros voiced out their opinions about the “vouch system”, and how it dropped the overall quality of each teammate and lobby. Players who achieved Master rank in EU or Predator in NA were able to register for Realm, alongside a verifiable history through Liquipedia or the ALGS Challengers Cup and Pro League Qualifiers.
However, with the vouch system, any players in Masters rank could be directly invited to Realm without any of the previously stated qualifications. Each verified player could vouch for one friend, granting full access to the matchmaking services and Realm leaderboards, causing a massive team imbalance when full-time pros were paired up with unknown players, who had no previous competitive experience. Many participants spoke out on how full pre-made squads could benefit from Realm’s matchmaking services, rather than its SoloQ format.
Realm immediately started answering the criticisms, instating The Crucible, a relegation system for underperforming and new entrants to the league, alongside changes to the ELO system, leaderboard metrics, and matchmaking points, but despite all of these changes, Realm’s player count continued to decline due to the skill disparity problems and fatigue from daily participation and ultimately decided to shut down the SoloQ league on May 2, 2023.
With the shutdown of the SoloQ League, and many organizers in NA and EU shutting down scrims due to lack of motivation, Realm once again seeks to provide a stable environment for all invited teams to the Champions League, exciting many pros, with the end of the ALGS Split Two regular season.
Fans tuning in to watch their favorite teams in the Champions League can spectate the main broadcast on Realm’s official Twitch channel, with additional format and broadcast announcements set for May 4, 2023.
