Apex Legends fans aren’t too thrilled about a big rumored minimum player requirement for the game’s upcoming private matches feature.
Renowned Apex insider Thordan Smash tweeted early this morning that the game’s upcoming Spellbound collection event will allow players to create and join private matches for the first time, as was officially announced by developer Respawn Entertainment yesterday. However, Thordan also shared that private lobbies will reportedly require a minimum of 30 players to start a match, which is as yet unconfirmed. Normal battle royale matches include 60 players either as 20 teams of three in Trios or 30 teams of two in Duos.
This information was originally shared by another Twitter user and data miner, who discovered a file in the game reading “cm_public_min_players_30” at the beginning of November 2022. At the time, private lobbies hadn’t been announced, leading them to wonder if the string simply pointed at the existence of custom matches for all players. Yesterday afternoon, they added to their tweet, “looks like 30 players to start a private match.” Respawn has not confirmed or commented on these leaks or on the supposed minimum.
These rumors were met with disappointment by the Apex community, many of whom were hoping to use custom matches as a way to explore maps by themselves, learn new environmental techniques, or just mess around with their friends. From the screenshots shared by Respawn on the Spellbound blog, custom matches appear to be geared more toward players who want to host their own tournaments and share match codes with their own communities rather than as a way for individuals or small groups to test abilities or adventure across maps.
While intending private matches to these people is still a net positive for the Apex community if the rumors turn out to be correct, that fact hasn’t prevented some players from feeling left out by the possible minimum player requirement.
