The ALGS LAN Has Already Made Apex Legends Esports More Exciting Than Ever

thegamer.com:

EA announced last week that Apex Legends Split 2 Playoffs will be an in-person LAN tournament. We all knew this was the publisher’s intention for Apex Legends esports, but the pandemic forced the entirety of the first ALGS season online, and subsequently caused the last-minute cancellation of the Split 1 Playoffs event (which was also played online).

Nobody was daring to hope that the Playoffs would actually be a LAN. After all, the ALGS has never actually had an in-person event due to the unfortunate fact its inception coincided with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. But it’s official, we’re going to Stockholm next month. Well we’re not, there’s not going to be a live audience, but the players will be gathering all in one room for an intense culmination of the past few months’ action.

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After successful in-person Apex Legends events at the X-Games and the Preseason Invitational, fans have had a brief taste of what other esports have been organising for years. There’s something special about every competitor being in the same room, being able to see the players’ faces as they react and the celebrations when they win. Can you imagine hearing the trash talk between NRG and TSM in-person instead of reading lame Twitter beef for months on end? It’s exciting. But that’s not the best part.

An in-person LAN event has not only given teams more to play for, but created far more jeopardy in the regular Split 2 season. Apex’s online tournaments were done by region - to reduce latency and ping - meaning that 20 teams from each region progressed to a regional online tournament. However, with the entire world being funneled into one 40-team lobby, far fewer teams will make it to