Realm, an automated matchmaking service, first entered Apex Legends on March 5, 2023, with the announcement of a new pro league and plans to launch in two regions: North America and EMEA. Focusing on the solo queue experience, all players would be given random teams prior to each match, leading to a wide variety of first impressions for the tournament.
Realm’s first season started on April 3, with more than 650 participants in NA and EMEA and over 100 matches already played.
Many pro players and content creators have already voiced their positive experiences with the league’s format, but have found consistent problems with the quality of matches, specifically concerning the teammates they are matched with.
Community sentiment concerning Realm’s initial launch has been overwhelmingly positive, with many citing the league as a new avenue for players to practice in a monitored environment and make a name for themselves.
Jack “NiceWigg” Martin, an Apex content creator for 100 Thieves and official caster for the ALGS costream, held a podcast featuring multiple NA pros and gathered their opinions on Realm—and many say they prefer the new league to the traditional ranked ladder.
Realm has attracted many current ALGS pros in NA and EMEA, such as Tripods’ NICKMERCS, who recently ran into multiple cheaters during the last day of the ranked split. Now competing in Realm, NICKMERCS and other pros can compete in a safe environment away from cheaters, without fear of disconnecting from their lobbies due to outside influences.
However, despite the positives concerning Realm, the same pros have voiced their own concerns surrounding the “vouch system” for entering the league, and how the quality of players included in lobbies leads to widely mismatched lobbies and unfair teams, wasting the time and effort for all players involved in matchmaking.
To qualify for Realm, players must have achieved the rank of Master in EU or Predator in NA, previously competed in the ALGS Challengers Cup or Pro League Qualifiers, or have a Liquipedia page with competitive history in Apex. Even if a player does not meet most of the requirements, they can still enter through the vouch system.
Although NA has a higher barrier to entry, with players needing to attain the rank of Predator in a previous season, the vouch system allows for Masters+ players to still gain access to Realm matches.
By setting up their Realm account and completing the verification process, a previously-verified player can vouch for their friend, granting full access to the matchmaking services and official Realm private lobbies.
Realm has already acknowledged the criticism towards the vouch system, and have begun kicking previously vouched players from the league. Realm has also announced the start of the Crucible, a new system intended to better verify new entries to the league, adding another layer of security and credibility for each player entering mid-season.
The Realm SoloQ League runs daily from 7am-1pm CT for EU, and 1-7pm CT in NA. Season one of Realm launched on April 3 and runs for three months until July 3, 2023.
Included Apex players will compete for a $150,000 prize pool each season, distributed between daily results, the overall leaderboard, and the final tournament of the season, featuring the top 120 players from each region.
