E-District to be played at the ALGS Championship in Japan

E-District will be played at the upcoming ALGS Championship in Sapporo, Japan. The map will join the two longstanding ALGS maps, Storm Point and Worlds Edge. The news was apparently shared with ALGS Pro's and subsequently has filtered its way out onto social media. As it stands, the ALGS has not made an official confirmation of this decision but esports.gg has confirmed the news with multiple sources.

E-District was already added to the BLGS map rotation. This tournament now becomes incredibly crucial practice for those teams qualified for the season ending ALGS Championship.

It has been an incredibly long time since the ALGS map rotation was changed. Events have been entirely Worlds Edge and Storm Point since all the way back in February 2022, which will be almost three years prior when the action kicks off in Japan. Poetically, developers said that they took major inspiration from countries like Japan when designing E-District.

The ALGS team have clearly been keen to add an extra map to the ALGS for some time. They flirted with adding Olympus to the rotation ahead of ALGS Year 4, but were swayed into holding off by extremely strong opposition from ALGS competitors.

However, it is clear that the esport needs a new map. Both Storm Point and Worlds Edge have been played so many times by ALGS teams that games can feel repetitive. A new map shakes up competition, but also adds an exciting new element for viewers.

This will add an extra layer of hype to what could be the largest ALGS LAN event in the games history. The esport is finally heading to Japan, and a brand new map is in rotation. Both Worlds Edge and Storm Point will still be played, with 2 games per map to be played in the Group Stage.

For teams and fans, the off-season now becomes far more engaging too. Teams have a lot to work out through the BLGS and scrims, and as we saw when Storm Point was introduced, teams that previously were not standout competitors can rise to the top if they are the first to adapt to a new map.

Importantly, E-District is distinct from the other two maps played in the ALGS. The 'one large city' vibe, with no open fields and a totally different verticality dynamic means this map will play out totally differently from both Worlds Edge and Storm Point.

For viewers, who ultimately keep an esport alive, this will be a major shake up to competitive Apex Legends. Fans can see top level competition on an entirely new playing field, with potentially different metas and playstyles in effect now E-District is being played at the ALGS Championship.

When Storm Point released, Team Liquid (FunFPS, Nocturnal and Gild) rose to dominance by being one of the first to master this map. They steamrolled the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs in Sweden as a result of adapting so quickly.

Who could benefit from this addition? There is a lot longer to prepare for E-District than Storm Point, which was added 19 days before the ALGS Pro League got under way. Additionally, more teams have coaches and analysts than back in early 2022. This will mean teams, in theory, should be able to adapt to faster to an additional map and the challenges associated.

However, with E-District being so different from the existing map rotation, some teams might find their natural playstyle works much better on this map. Stay tuned to this weekends BLGS Qualifier to get a first look at how E-District plays out in competitive lobbies.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for full coverage of the ALGS and all things Apex Legends.