Respawn, EA Shifts 'Apex Legends' Tournaments To Online-Only As Support To Social Distancing

The current COVID-19 pandemic has seen the rise and fall of the gaming industry. Major tournaments and events were forced to cancel due to the outbreak, while some gaming outfits have pledged their help and support to fight the virus in their own way.

With social distancing and home quarantine the new norm to mitigate the spread of the illness, Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts (EA) have moved all of its “Apex Legends” tournaments online to promote the global protocol.

In their “Stay & Play” blog, the “Apex Legends Global Series” team outlined their initiative to still foster connectivity especially during the time players and fans “need to be physically apart.”

“The ALGS team is continuing to shift our events away from physical tournaments to Online Tournaments where players will compete for USD $100K in cash per tournament in addition to ALGS points,” the blog said.

The shift also prompted the team to add three new Online Tournaments in their calendar: Online Tournament #4 will be held on April 18 and 20, while #5 will be on May 2 and 4.

Online Tournament #6 is scheduled on May 30 and June 1, it added.

The remaining tournaments, particularly Online Tournament #3 will continue as planned on April 4 and 6, while the PGL Bucharest Premier Event #2 was postponed to an “unspecified date,” according to Engadget.

All Online Tournaments will carry the aforementioned $100K cash prize and ALGS Points. In addition, the EU and NA Finals of each Online Tournament will be streamed live on YouTube and Twitch.

“We hope this shift to online ALGS tournaments in the upcoming months will allow our community to continue supporting one another while we weather the storm,” the team said.