Leaked information about Apex Legends Ranked changes has pros, streamers, and casual players excited. The proposed changes would align the Ranked system more closely with the professional Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) format.
Leaked Apex Legends Ranked information – explaining the potential changes
Notorious leaks account ‘HYPERMYST’ posted a set of updates that they defined as a leak for Season 26, the next Apex Legends game season.
Enthusiasm for the proposed changes was immediately expressed. However, how will these changes impact the game, and what similarities do they share with the ALGS Pro League format?
Removing Apex Legends’ dropship
Generating the most excitement is the leak mentioning that dropships will be removed in the Apex Legends Ranked changes.
So far, the Apex Legends base game has always featured a dropship system, where players begin the game in transit above the map, and must choose when to drop from this position into the game. Often, players will end up contesting different drop locations or high-tier loot areas, causing early eliminations.
Removing the dropship aims to change this.
In 2024, the dropship was removed from the ALGS. Instead, teams now draft POIs (named landing locations) before the competitive games begin. At the start of the game, they spawn above these locations and land there without other teams immediately contesting their location and loot.
A draft system would likely not be feasible in Ranked mode, but the leaked Apex Legends Ranked information states that teams will instead be spawned above a random POI.
RP (Ranked Points) priority changes
Another potential leaked change for Season 26 is the rebalancing of Ranked Points (RP). Balancing how points are awarded in Ranked games has been a consistent challenge for Apex Legends developers, and they likely hope this update will improve the system.
Firstly, high placement (ability to survive in-game for longer) will supposedly be more heavily rewarded in RP compared to kills. This is likely a decision made to curb aggressive “run & gun” gameplay that focuses on kill points.
However, this change could also encourage more “ratting”, where players will hide and stealthily try to traverse the map to pick up points for placement with minimal engagement.
Until full details of the update are revealed, we will likely not know how this will affect Ranked gameplay.
The leaked changes also include increased Challenger RP bonuses. This meant that eliminating players who are a higher rank than you will award you more RP.
Community and ALGS pro reactions to Ranked leaks: “Apex Legends is saved”
It is safe to say that responses amongst pro players to the leaked potential Apex Legends Ranked changes have been largely positive.
FURIA’s Apex Legends coach, Jamison ‘Jxmo’ Moore, even went as far as to declare that “Apex Legends is saved.”
The most popular change is the removal of the dropship. This is also the change that makes the most significant shift, pushing Ranked towards the professional ALGS format.
Overall, this change is seen by many as a way to better separate the public unranked mode from ranked gameplay.
However, there is still vocal opposition to the idea of having your POI drop selected at random. This could significantly disadvantage players if measures are not taken to ensure POIs are balanced with sufficient loot to prevent setbacks.
POI is also instrumental in game strategy, especially when teams rotate and move across the map.
This issue does not exist in the same way for ALGS competitors due to the POI draft.
Overall, these changes are still just rumours. EA and Respawn Entertainment have yet to confirm these Ranked modifications for Season 26.
Nevertheless, it is the perfect time for them to introduce more systematic changes. Season 25 introduced a new playable Legend, Sparrow, and the game does not add new characters in consecutive major updates. Therefore, something different is required.
Regardless, if the community reaction is anything to go by, these could be some very popular modifications.
Hannah is a writer specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports and Apex Legends, although it may never surpass her drive to passionately beat her friends in every game of Mariokart. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ESI London, EGX, Discover: Esports and many League of Legends watch parties.