Apex Legends Global Series

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EA to Cover All Apex Legends Global Series Travel Expenses Following Community Backlash

Abhimannu Das
Updated On: 
Highlights
Almost half the teams participating in the ALGS Split 2 Event did not have their travel expenses covered by EA.
Fans and pro players were upset over the decision by EA to cover only half the teams but the community crowdfunded several smaller organizations in no time.
EA changed its policy after the backlash and stated that all teams will now have their ALGS travel expenses covered for the remainder of Year 2.

Apex Legends esports is set to return to LAN events after three years and players are preparing to travel to Stockholm to compete in Split 2 of the Apex Legends Global Series. Despite being the flagship competitive circuit with a $1 million USD prize pool, the upcoming event was poorly managed. EA offered no compensation for travel expenses for players. This made it difficult for smaller organizations to head to the event. After community backlash, EA decided to cover all travel expenses for all live events for the remainder of Year 2.

Apex Legends community upset over EA’s event management

An unsigned Mexican team SCRY mentioned that it would be unable to afford travel expenses heading into Apex Legends. While the upcoming Split 2 Playoffs is the most high-profile Apex Legends esports event yet, the team could still potentially lose money if it does not secure a good spot on the leaderboard. Teams from Brazil calculated that travel alone would cost them around $6,000. It would require teams from the region to secure a top 25 spot to cover the airfare alone.

Fortunately for some of the teams struggling to compete in the event, streamers and other community members managed to fundraise expenses for the teams. 100 Thieves’ Jack “NiceWigg” Martin and TSM’s Christian "Nokokopuffs" Feliciano and other creators contributed financially to help teams make it to Stockholm next month.

TSM’s Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen, who is the face of Apex Legends esports, questioned why the community should have to rely on crowdfunding at all and called on EA to do better. He said, “Yea this is a complete joke, as far as I know almost every other game covers expenses such as these but EA decides to do a half-ass job instead. Be better and cover all the teams that have qualified.”

After the community uproar, EA changed its policy. The publisher made the decision to cover travel expenses for all starting players participating in live events for the remainder of Year 2. It is to be noted that accommodation is not included and smaller teams may still have a hard time attending future events due to the high expenses involved. The Apex community on the other hand should be lauded for the support shown to smaller organizations and players for helping them compete in the upcoming international LAN.

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Abhimannu is a PC esports writer at AFK Gaming. With over seven years of experience in esports journalism, he has worked on a myriad of games and their ecosystems including Valorant, Overwatch and Apex Legends.

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