Apex Legends Pros Fuming At Low-Level Kit At $1 Million LAN
It's been two years in the making, but Apex Legends is finally returning to a live event format, as the best teams in the world are set to compete in Stockholm for a title-best $1 Million. However, all is not as fine and dandy as it may seem, and despite the whopping prize pool, the players are less than impressed.
EA and Respawn Entertainment's attempt at a LAN has gotten off to a rocky start before the players have even left the dropship, and have already been heavily criticised for having not provided travel and accommodation for more than half of the qualified teams.
After reevaluating this decision - as teams from around the globe begged for sponsors and crowdfunded their own tickets - the hopes were that the developers would now be pulling out the stops to make their opening event a hit success. Maybe, this was fickle thinking though.
ALGS Pros Appalled By Stockholm Major Facilities
Ahead of the event, players have been promised high-performance PCs that would boast RTX 3080 graphics cards and 11th generation Intel i7 processors, making the competition as smooth as possible and replicable of how many of the high-end pros already play. Esports Partnership Manager Shahin Kanafchian confirmed this on Twitter, saying it's now in the player handbook provided to the competitors.
However, after arriving in Stockholm, the upgraded PCs have not arrived, meaning they will have to play on outdated computers that may struggle to run the game as efficiently as some of the pro's own setups.
It's not just players who have been affected by the facilities either. Coaches and media have also criticised Respawn Entertainment, adding fuel to the fire.
According to TSM's Head of Global Social and Community, "Dunc", no media, coaches, or photographers are allowed on-stage at the ALGS LAN, for any team, with the entire crew having to watch the games on wooden benches.
TSM, currently the top seed in North America and arguably the face of Apex Legends esports, will have to see their backroom staff seated in "the Monster Lounge", leaving all the strategies and preparations to be done away from the setups.
It's likely that the restrictions are in place due to fears of the coronavirus pandemic spreading, which has already ruled out current world silver medalist Zach "Zach" Mazer, who is Cloud9's in-game leader.
Despite the conditions, the ALGS Stockholm Major is still poised to be a hit, and the facilities will likely be forgotten about when the players drop Storm Point and duke it out in Gibraltar bubbles and Wraith voids.
