Apex Legends Global Series Online Tournaments Now Have Prize Money
The Apex Legends Global Series, which is due to run throughout 2020 and early 2021, is currently undergoing a series of changes and revisions. The currently ongoing coronavirus pandemic has forced Respawn to postpone the first Premier Event, and more live events are likely to suffer similar delays if the situation doesn’t improve. However, Respawn has simultaneously decided to restructure the Series’ Online Tournaments, the next of which will actually feature its own prize pool in addition to its originally planned rewards. In fact, this could end up becoming the norm for such events.
Changes to the Apex Legends Global Series Prize Pools
Although live events are currently postponed, Respawn still intends to run their Online Tournaments; a key part of the Global Series calendar. However, it seems that they will be restructuring these events somewhat. Online Tournament #2 is coming up soon, but players will no longer compete for places in Premier Event #1. (That event is currently postponed, with no plans yet in place to reschedule, after all.) Instead, players will be competing for ALGS Points.
Respawn plans to use ALGS Points to determine tournament seeding for future events, as well as open slots in their Major events. However, these points won’t be the only prize on offer. When Respawn first announced the Global Series, the ten Online Tournaments didn’t have actual prize pools; rather, they served as a chance for players to earn places in Premier and Major events. (And earn the money needed to cover their subsequent travel expenses.) However, Respawn has now decided to offer an actual prize pool for Online Tournament #2.
Not only did Respawn take the Premier Event #1 prize pool and reassign it to Online Tournament #2, but they actually tripled it in the process to $300,000! The top 10 ranked players in Europe and North America will each win a share of this prize pool, with 1st place winning $21,600 and 10th place winning $1,800. The top 5 players in the ANZ, GSEA, JPN, KOR, MEA, and SA regions will also win shares; 1st place will get $10,800, down to a $2,400 share for 5th. According to Respawn, this won’t actually affect the prize pool of Premier Event #1, as and when it’s rescheduled.
For now, Online Tournament #2 is the only one which will have its own prize pool. However, this could soon change. According to Respawn, the company is currently; “working on plans to increase the number of online tournaments with prize money,” and fans should; “stay tuned for additional announcements in the near future.”