Please Don’t Roll Back Ranked Solo Queue Based on Flawed Data

@EA_Mako

As a day-one solo player, I’m very glad Apex is finally testing solo-only matchmaking for Diamond+ ranked. This is the kind of ranked integrity change many competitive solo players have wanted for years.

That said, please be careful when interpreting player-count or engagement data from this specific test. The timing is awkward. The split is already more than halfway over, and many players have already built huge RP leads under the previous matchmaking system. For players like me, whose only remaining competitive goal is hitting Predator solo, starting the grind now feels unrealistic, so I likely won’t play much during the test despite strongly supporting the change. I’m also mostly soft-retired from Apex due to long-term burnout from ranked integrity issues, but a proper solo-ranked environment is exactly the kind of change that could bring me back under better conditions.

Another issue is that Diamond’s population is currently very inflated. Many players reach Diamond late in the season by being carried by higher-rank friends, especially once lobbies become less competitive. As a result, Diamond currently includes many players who are not competitively inclined or accurately skill-placed for a system aimed at high-level ranked integrity. Since a solo-only test directly conflicts with that group’s interests, online complaints or drops in engagement may come from players who were never really the target audience for this change in the first place.

TL;DR: if engagement numbers are lower during this test, please don’t assume that means players dislike solo-only ranked. The timing, RP gap, late-season carry incentives are all influencing variables. Please don’t roll back the commitment to this idea based on messy data or poorly interpreted player sentiment. That would be extremely frustrating for competitive solo players who have wanted this change for years.