Electronic Arts (EA) has announced the details for Year 3 of Apex Legends‘ esports circuit, the Apex Legends Global Series. The ALGS is a worldwide competition that features the best talent that Apex Legends has to offer. The circuit is also fully open registration, meaning that anyone can sign up to participate in the lower of two tiers of competition, the Challenger Circuit.
Image Credit EA (Joe Brady)
Those who qualify from the Challenger Circuit are able to move up to the ALGS Pro League, where all of the top teams play for a massive $5,000,000 prize pool. The first 110 teams participating in ALGS Year 3 were also announced, 22 from each of the five Apex regions. The full list of teams can be found here.
ALGS Year 3 Teams to Watch
North America
The NA ALGS is more stacked than ever in Year 3. Staple competitors TSM, Spacestation Gaming, 100 Thieves, and OpTic Gaming are back and ready to keep their winning ways going. NRG Esports, Cloud9, G2 Esports, and Team Liquid are coming in to Year 3 with revamped rosters. The biggest breakout story in Apex, FURIA Esports, are also ready to keep making waves. Lastly, the back-to-back ALGS LAN Champions DarkZero Esports have left their home region of APAC South and come to North America.
EMEA
The Europe, Middle East, and Africa region is seeing its biggest competitors return for Year 3. Alliance, GMT Esports, and Natus Vincere will be looking to show dominance over the region. Fan favorites SCARZ and Team Empire are back, as well as some more underrated squads in AYM Esports, Horizon Union, and Acend. Finally, don’t underestimate the unsigned squads of FA Kitties and Fire Beavers. These teams can easily play up to the top level of the region.
APAC North
The beloved APAC North region will feature many familiar faces. The heavily competitive league is headlined by Crazy Raccoon, FENNEL, and Riddle. Fnatic and PULVEREX gained tons of fans from their admirable performances at the ALGS Championship and will be top contenders as well. Also noteworthy are DetonatioN Gaming, ex-REJECT, and the ex-esports team αD roster.
APAC South
With the departure of DarkZero Esports, the field has opened up for the rest of the APAC South region. The new favorites to top the league are fan favorites Team Burger (now under Moist Esports), DreamFire, and EXO Clan. DEWA United Esports and Buriram United Esports are also teams to watch. Since APAC South gets fewer spots for the ALGS Championship, topping the region is crucial.
South America
Apex’s smallest region still has some very impressive competition at the top. Fênix Team, Team Singularity, and ODDIK are going to be championship contenders. GODFIRE and 1IQ also got some experience at the ALGS Championship and are looking to challenge the top.
ALGS Year 3 Format Updates
The restructuring of the ALGS format in Year 2 was a big success in terms of player and viewer engagement. This came to a head at the ALGS Year 2 Championship, where nearly 11 million hours were watched across all platforms. As a result, ALGS Year 3 will be keeping a similar format while adding a few minor refinements to the Pro League and Challenger Circuit.
The biggest change is that Pro League is being reduced from 40 teams per region to 30. The first 22 of these teams have already been invited, while the last eight will be decided at the Preseason Qualifiers. Another addition to the Pro League format is that at the end of the Split, the top 20 teams will advance to the brand-new Regional Finals where one Playoffs spot will be given automatically to the winner.
The Challenger Circuit is getting some love as well. The circuit winner will now be guaranteed a spot at the next Split’s Pro League Qualifier, or the Last Chance Qualifier depending on the Split.
ALGS Year 3 Schedule
Image Credit EA
ALGS Year 3 kicks off in October 2022 with the Preseason Qualifiers. This is where the remaining ALGS Pro League team slots will be decided. Both up-and-coming squads, as well as teams that just barely didn’t make the initial cut will compete for the final 8 Pro League spots in their respective regions.
Once that is decided, Split 1 will run from November to December. This Split will feature six weeks of standard play with the top 20 teams from each region moving on to the Split 1 Playoffs. The end-of-split playoffs are planned to be in-person, LAN events. Split 1’s will take place in Winter 2023.
Split 2 of the ALGS Pro League will run from March to April, with the Split 2 Playoffs happening later in Spring. Teams can qualify for the ALGS Championship based on circuit points from both Splits. The last remaining spots will be awarded at the regional Last Chance Qualifiers in June.
The ALGS Championship will take place in Summer and will feature the best 40 teams from around the world. A whole $2,000,000 of the total prize pool will be awarded at this Year 3 grand finale event.
