“We are in a moment of despair” says Max Strafe.
Apex pro Max Strafe has called on EA to allow his team, Passion UA, to play the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs remotely. The Ukrainian team are once again struggling to get permission to travel due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. While the team were able to attend the Split 1 Playoffs in Los Angeles, they missed out on the Esports World Cup earlier this month.
EA have never allowed a team to play an Apex LAN event remotely, even during the COVID pandemic. It's not clear at this time if this is even technically possible, even if EA were minded to grant the request.
Max Strafe once again facing visa struggles
Max Strafe is no stranger to visa and travel issues. He has missed several ALGS LAN events as a result of difficulties owing to the war in Ukraine. It was a historic moment when he was able to play the ALGS Split 1 Playoffs. Sadly, this seems to have been a fortunate exception rather than the turning of a corner for his circumstances.
He explained that he was more worried about if his generator will last the ALGS day, than the results themselves. Fighting blackouts just to compete is a struggle that no one could have ever imagined would befall an esports player a few years ago.
In a statement on X, Max revealed that his team do not currently have permission to travel to Germany and compete.
Dear @EA @shahin @PlayApexEsports @EAJohnNelson We are in a moment of despair, and we ask you to meet us halfway and give us the opportunity to play LAN in Mannheim from home. Apparently our organization is still trying to bring us LAN, and we will do everything possible to achieve it. But because of the War it is really very difficult to do especially nowadays.
We are ready for any conditions of fair play control. Just please do not kill our dream, career and hard path to it. I have qualified for 100% of the LANs that I played, and because of War never can attend, we did it with great efforts that other players did not even dream of, in blackouts and under bombing, we are struggling with all the difficulties fighting odds everyday for this chances, and we deserve a place among you, this is very unfair to us, so please be on our side. And give such an option. We still trying to make things work for us, but i beg you for backup option!
Much respect and Love.
While it seems that there is a slim chance Passion UA might be able to find a solution for Max Strafe and his teammates, at the moment it does not seem likely.
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Could EA grant this request?
While no one would deny that Max and his team undoubtedly deserves to play this LAN event, allowing a team to play LAN remotely would be a huge decision for EA and the ALGS to make. Other players, including Alliance star Effect, are missing the event because of visa issues. If one team is allowed to play remotely, should this be extended to others who miss out? Would this apply for future events too? Some would argue that this could be a good precedent to set given visa issues plague the ALGS more often than anyone would like.
Additionally, there are technical considerations. It might not even be possible for someone to connect to the servers used for the LAN event in Mannheim remotely.
That said, it would be an amazing moment and a great show of unity for Max and Passion UA to be able to play this event in some form. As of writing, EA have not responded to Max Strafe's call for help and nor has the door closed for Passion UA to secure permission to exit Ukraine.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for full coverage of the ALGS and all things Apex Legends.
