Apex Ranked roadmap: Legend bans in November, new ranks in Season 32

Electronic Arts posted a Ranked roadmap on October 20 covering Season 31 (November) and Season 32 (early 2027). Season 31 is the foundation: Legend bans in Diamond-and-up lobbies, visible Lobby Tier scoring, and easier Ranked access. Season 32 is the rebuild: new ranks, an Open League vs a Pro-Am League, and flattened RP math. EA’s own caveat is that this is not the full list.

Season 31 — November

No calendar day is attached to the November start. Diamond-and-up matches that already use Drop Zone also get a Ban Phase. Each player nominates one Legend. After the timer, the nominated Legends show a percent chance based on vote totals. The system then randomly selects from those percentages. EA does not publish how many Legends get banned per match. The stated goal is to disrupt a ban-the-most-picked meta, which is why the most-voted pick is not an automatic ban.

Lobby Tier, Challenger, Goliath

Each lobby gets a visible Lobby Tier: the median of the squads. A squad two or more Rank Tiers below that median is a Challenger lobby with a reduced entry cost. Two or more tiers above is a Goliath lobby with an increased entry cost. EA’s example is a Gold Lobby Tier: Bronze squads are Challengers, Diamond is Goliath, and Gold/Silver/Platinum sit inside the band. The adjustment is on entry cost, shown on load-in, not revealed at the end screen.

• Road to Ranked Challenges are removed. Ranked access is Account Level 20.
• Demotion Protection already existed and was “unintentionally hidden.” It now displays. Three Demotion Shields while a single match could drop you a tier; one shield is spent instead of the demotion until they are gone.

Season 32 — early 2027

Open League is Iron through Emerald. Those matches start in the dropship. Pro-Am is Diamond, Masters, and Grandmaster: Drop Zone plus Legend bans. Open weighs kills slightly higher than placement. Pro-Am weighs placement higher. EA is also flattening kill and placement RP to set values (no kill-value multiplier from final placement), giving full kill RP to the whole squad, and removing assists and participations. Entry cost will step up per division instead of per tier. Weekly ladders end in Season 32; the replacement is “next year.”

Rewards preview

EA calls the Season 32 rewards pass light on purpose: new seasonal Auras, new ways to use Auras, Ranked dive trails revisited, Epic and Legendary Apex Packs, and rewards on promotion so you are not waiting until end of season. Visuals and the rest of the kit come closer to Season 32 launch.