Apex Legends ranked matchmaking details, release date revealed

Top Apex Legends players will finally have something to fight for.

In a lengthy post on the game’s official website, developer Respawn Entertainment detailed its plans for a ranked mode for the popular battle royale title. The update sheds light on how the ranked system will work and when players will be able to start climbing the ladder.

Respawn opened the discussion by stating that the ranked system will be a work in progress even after it opens. The mode will launch with a score-based system that will be reset every few months, with those stretches of time called series. Each eries may not run concurrently with the game’s seasonal format going forward.

Players will be divided into tiers ranging from the lowest level of Bronze to the elite “Apex Predators.” Those ranks are subdivided into tiers such as Silver I, Silver II, and so on. All players will start as Bronze IV for the first series, but strong players will be able start from a higher point in future series.

Ranks are determined by “Rank Points.” During a game, players earn one point for a kill and can receive up to 12 points depending on their team’s placement in a game. As players climb the rankings they will be forced to “pay” rank points in order to play games. Bronze players do not have to pay any points, but silver players must put down one point per game, gold players put down two, and so on.

Parties playing in ranked mode will be matched based on the highest-level player on the team. However, the RP cost will be calculated as if the player was queuing solo.

Another aspect of ranked matchmaking that will be introduced is penalties for players that abandon games.

“We regard Ranked as a high-stakes, high-reward environment,” Respawn said. “This means that we are expecting players in Ranked to show a higher level of commitment to playing out their matches, even when things aren’t necessarily going their way.”

The penalty system will function similar to that of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or League of Legends. Should a player abandon a game, they will be hit with matchmaking cooldown that prevents them from playing either ranked or standard games. This penalty starts at just five minutes but escalates further up to a one-week matchmaking ban.

Ranked matchmaking will be made available at the start of Season 2.