Apex Legends

Apex Legends is a free battle royale in which three players form a squad and fight together against other teams. Each player chooses a character with a distinct set of abilities, known in the game as a Legend. Multiple squads drop onto the same map, fight for survival, and compete to be the last team left standing[1]. Respawn developed the game and EA published it, with its original release on February 4, 2019[2]. Nearly seven years on, it still placed seventh in Steam's most-played rankings for October 6 (UTC), with a daily peak of 204,036 concurrent players[10]. This review considers the game as it stands on October 7, 2026, using the information available as of that date.

The squad advantage facing solo players

For anyone entering ranked alone, the most telling figures come from Respawn itself. On September 30, the developer published the results of the ranked matchmaking experiments it ran during the previous season[6]. Across ranked play, premade squads of three won 17% more often than squads made up of three players who had queued separately. A premade duo joined by a third player won 19% more often than those all-solo squads. In Master, at the top end of ranked, 85% of all squads were premade trios[6].

Respawn tried two experiments, and neither delivered the results it had hoped for. The first reduced the permitted rank gap between squad members from two tiers to one. For Diamond players, that meant encountering roughly 8% fewer Diamond opponents and roughly 8% more Platinum opponents. Other ranks saw little change[6]. The second experiment required Diamond, Master and Predator players to queue alone. It removed premade trios from those queues, but did not change who was winning: in Master lobbies, the gap in win rate between the top 10 teams and the bottom 10 teams remained at 9%[6].

The developer traced the second experiment's shortcomings to the way ranked builds squads. Matchmaking first gathers 60 players with similar Ranked Points (RP) into a lobby. It then sorts them by RP, divides them into three groups and assigns one player from each group to every squad[6]. Requiring the highest-ranked players to queue alone spread them across the squads, one to each. As a result, more squads ended up sharing a match with those higher-ranked players[6]. Diamond players and above who had been playing ranked with friends also played less[6]. Respawn decided against making either experiment permanent[6].

Season 30 Marked and a matchmaking test this week

The current season, Season 30: Marked, began on August 4[5]. Bloodhound, the tracking specialist, received a new ultimate ability. World's Edge also gained three new locations, including East Village and its longhouse[5]. The season introduced contaminated attachments that increase late-game firepower at a cost. Players can also see on screen how an attachment changes their weapon's stats[5].

Matchmaking tests will continue until the season ends on November 3. From around 10 a.m. Pacific Time on October 7, crossplay will be enabled by default across all platforms on US West servers[7]. The aim is to shorten queue times and narrow the skill range within matches. Console players can opt out by turning crossplay off in the settings[7]. On PC, the anti-cheat software changed to EA Javelin Anticheat on September 29; Secure Boot does not currently need to be enabled[8]. The Street Fighter 6 crossover event runs until October 13[9].

Tokens unlock Legends, coins buy cosmetics

Apex Legends is free to download. Locked Legends can be unlocked with 12,000 Legend Tokens, earned as the account levels up, or with 750 AC in the paid currency, Apex Coins[3]. In its FAQ, EA says it does not sell items that give a gameplay advantage. It describes cosmetics and new characters as the main purchases that support the game[3]. The official price list puts Legendary cosmetics at 1,800 AC, Epic cosmetics at 1,000 AC and Rare cosmetics at 500 AC[3].

A new Battle Pass arrives twice per season, once for each period known as a split[3]. The current pass is Marked Split 2, with three tiers to choose from[4]. Premium offers rewards through level 60. Ultimate adds an immediate allocation of Crafting Metals and Apex Packs on top of that. Ultimate+ immediately unlocks 10 levels and gives access to every Legend for the duration of Split 2[3][4]. Passes can be purchased with Apex Coins or real money. Players who buy Premium and then upgrade to a higher tier receive back the coins they spent on Premium[3].

A pack has a 7.4% chance of a Legendary

Apex Packs are the game's randomized purchases. A standard pack costs 100 AC and contains three items[3]. The chance that at least one of those three items is Epic or better is 24.8%. The chance of getting at least one Legendary is 7.4%[3]. There are higher-tier packs as well: an Epic Pack costs 400 AC, while both Legendary Packs and Collection Event Packs cost 700 AC[3].

The safeguards are also published as specific numbers. Apex Packs guarantee a Legendary within 30 packs, although Collection Event Packs are excluded from that guarantee[3]. Heirloom Shards, which can be exchanged for Mythic items, have a 0.045% chance of dropping each time a pack is opened. They are guaranteed within 500 eligible packs[3]. Account progression supplies packs as well: from account level 2 through level 2,000, players can earn a maximum of 544 packs as level rewards[3].

Bring two friends and settle on a platform

If you have two friends who are ready to join you and form a squad, Apex Legends remains a good fit for that group. The ranked figures show how much of an advantage a coordinated team has. Parties can include players on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch[3]. There is one matchmaking detail console players should understand before joining a friend on PC: that party will enter PC matches[3].

For players planning to climb ranked alone, there is no reason to rush. Respawn says major changes arising from these experiments will come to ranked in Seasons 31 and 32, with details to be announced during October[6]. Waiting for that announcement before starting a ranked climb is a reasonable choice. Before making any purchases, it is also worth deciding which platform you plan to use, because the way coins are shared depends on the hardware. Coins obtained on PC, PlayStation and Xbox share a single wallet, while coins purchased on Nintendo Switch can only be spent on Switch[3].

Sources

[1] Valve. Apex Legends Steam store page (Korea). Includes the game description, supported languages and in-game purchase notice. Accessed October 7, 2026.

[2] Microsoft. Apex Legends Xbox store catalog (US market). Includes the original release date. Accessed October 7, 2026.

[3] Electronic Arts. Apex Legends FAQ. Official FAQ. Accessed October 7, 2026.

[4] Electronic Arts. Marked Battle Pass. Battle Pass guide. Accessed October 7, 2026.

[5] Respawn. Apex Legends™: Marked. Steam announcement, August 4, 2026.

[6] Respawn. Apex Legends: Matchmaking Test Results - 09/30/2026. Steam announcement, September 30, 2026.

[7] Respawn. Apex Legends: Latest Update 10/6/2026. Steam announcement, October 6, 2026.

[8] Respawn. EA Javelin Anticheat is Coming to Apex Legends. Steam announcement, September 24, 2026.

[9] Electronic Arts. Apex Legends VS Street Fighter 6 Event. Event guide. Accessed October 7, 2026.

[10] Valve. Steam most-played games API (GetMostPlayedGames). Figures for October 6, 2026 (UTC). Accessed October 7, 2026.