The first Apex Legends tournament, the FACEIT Pro Series league ended on the 2nd of June. The organizers announced it as “the official championship with a license from Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment”. We tell why the competition did not meet the expectations of fans.
Old format and no diversity
The first Apex Legends Championships took place a week after the release of the game. The organizers were mostly streaming platforms and stars like Guy DrDisRespect Baim, and the prize fund usually did not exceed $ 25,000. Such championships attracted spectators by the quality of participants. SInce the title was gaining exceptional popularity, the tournaments were contested by: Mike “shroud” Grzesik , Tyler “Ninja” Blevins , Jarid “summit1g” Lazar and other famous streamers.
The format of tournaments has always been the same: teams spend a series of games in matchmaking and earn points from rans and kills. The chance that the participants will meet on the same server was negligible, so that the audience had to watch as their favourite eSports athletes dominating the competition.
In March, FACEIT held a similar championship in conjunction with T1 Entertainment, and implemented the same format. In the first tournament, each team spent 12 games in matchmaking: for each kill the trio was credited with 1 point, and for victories they get 10 points.
At the same time, in mid-April, the TwitchCon Europe Showdown 2019 was held, where 20 teams struggled in the same lobby. In Apex Legends, this mechanic has not yet been implemented, but the developers have provided the organizers with a special version of the game. Why we did not see the special version in the first official tournament that was held last week is still unknown.
Only teams from North America
FACEIT invited only teams from North America to the championship. Of course, otherwise it was hard to hold a two-month tournament, but this decision upset many game fans. The main reason for dissatisfaction was the fact that only the most eminent organizations were among the owners of invites.
Apparently, the organizers did not pay attention to the the number of teams that wanted to participate and opened only two slots for the closed qualifiers, which were also required invitations. As a result, Team Dignitas and Immortals, who were invited to the main stage of the Pro Series, were at the bottom of the tournament table, and the winners of the qualifications Alliance and Fire Beavers won the top ten.
No future in eSports
It is fair to say that FACEIT Pro Series, was not the very first official tournament that would mark the beginning of a full-fledged competitive system in Apex Legends. Despite the licenses obtained, the organizers could not offer the viewers an exciting experience between the best teams
Earlier, representatives of the most popular eSports organizations of the CIS snd EU stated that they will not enter the new discipline until Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment tell about the competitive scene in Apex Legends in more detail.
