Competitive Update: In-game Pauses at the ALGS
Explaining our pause feature at the Apex Legends Global Series Year 3 Championship
For the Apex Legends™ Global Series (ALGS) Year 3 Championship, we have rolled out an updated iteration of the pause feature that first debuted during the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs. After the Playoffs, we reached out to players for feedback on the feature and have used that feedback to make improvements.
The pause feature provides an exciting benefit to competitors. In previous circumstances, a player experiencing an issue might’ve lost crucial looting, rotational, or engagement time while their issue was addressed. By pausing gameplay for all participants, we are able to minimize the impact of issues that might arise, helping us to maintain competitive integrity to the best of our ability.
We have seen some questions about the updated pause feature and wanted to share the following overview on how it works:
- The determination to pause is made solely by the ALGS, meaning no players or teams can request pauses to gameplay. Based on information from the game server and referees on the stage, the ALGS will determine whether a match should be paused.
- Once it has been determined that a match should be paused, the ALGS will initiate a pause request. Then, the game servers will wait until there is no player on player damage for 2 seconds. This means that we can avoid pausing while players are in the midst of active team fights. Note: player on player damage excludes damage to knocked players.
- To help ensure that no competitive advantage is gained, players and coaches are not allowed to communicate with each other for the duration of the pause.
- Once the issue is resolved, referees notify all teams that gameplay will resume. A 30 second countdown is also triggered ahead of the match restart that appears for each player in-game, allowing everyone to be prepared to get back into the action at the same time.
- If a request to pause is made, but the issue is resolved before a two-second window without player on player damage can be found, the pause request is canceled.
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