John Nelson, Sr. Director ALGS, Talks Challenges, Innovation, and Bringing Apex to Global Fans

Apex Legends Global Series is ramping up for the 2023-2024 season, with the Year 4 Split 2 Playoffs taking place in Mannheim, Germany across Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, 2024. It's the first time the ALGS has made its way to Germany, a country that often feels like Europe's beating heart of gaming and esports, and something that hasn't gone unnoticed by EA & Respawn. 

We spoke to John Nelson, Sr. Director of Esports, who helms the ALGS, about the significance of bringing the esport to a global fan base, and the unique evolution that Apex Legends sees in the competitive scene.

GINX TV: So, we’re already in Year 4. It feels like it’s flown by. I wanted to just kind of ask: How has this year been so far?

Nelson: Well, first of all, I'm really excited to be here in Germany, and for the first time bringing the ALGS here. We had our event in LA, so it was our first time on the west coast of the U.S. So it's just really exciting to be able to take the ALGS to new places in the world, and be able to activate for new groups of fans that we have around the world.

GINX TV: And why Germany this time around?

Nelson: We really wanted to come back to Europe. We went to the UK a few times last year, and so Germany just felt like a perfect location. Just such a great history of Esports fandom in the country, and gaming. We just had Gamescom here a couple weeks ago, so it just felt like a great location to have not just German fans but fans from all over the continent be able to come and watch. 

GINX TV: Have there been any specific challenges that Respawn have had to contend with this year?

Nelson: An exciting challenge that we have undertaken for this Split is the POI Draft. We implemented that for the Split 2 season, And it's been really exciting to watch, not just the drafts themselves, but the POI choices that players have made and are taking into their gameplay. 

GINX TV: Apex as a whole has undergone some drastic changes, in the past year especially. How has it been adapting the ALGS to these changes, like the Legend rework and upgrade system.

Nelson: I think you can give most of the credit to the players. They're incredibly adaptable with each patch, with each season that launches. They dive in and they create the meta for everyone around the world who plays this game. We come to an event like this Split 2 Playoffs and we get to see the ALGS in a completely new way. None of us have ever seen so many Mozambique get used in competition before. It just adds a new flavor to the ALGS.

GINX TV: With Apex it's quite interesting because the meta feels like it's changing all the time, and it’s interesting to see pros adapt to the changes. But has it ever really surprised you? The meta moving in ways that you perhaps weren't expecting?

Nelson: It always surprises me because, like a lot of players out there, I'm not capable of competing with the pros. I'm also not capable of forecasting where they're going to take the game in terms of competition. So, yeah, it's always surprising me. And surprising the devs at Respawn, as well. Where they design changes and think maybe it's gonna turn into this sort of meta, and then pros take it in a different direction. So they're always keeping us on our toes.

GINX TV: I’m curious about the general format for the ALGS, because it’s pretty unique compared to other esports. Could you talk a bit about how the concept came about?

Nelson: We take pride in innovating, and with Apex Legends being a battle royale, it offered so much opportunity for innovation. It was, a number of years ago, a completely new genre of video game. When you don't have one player versus one player, or one team versus one team and, instead, you have 20 teams on the stage competing simultaneously, you have to come up with new innovative ways to make that work in competition.

So, Match Point format is one of those things. We wanted to find a way to have climactic endings. Not just play a number of matches and whoever has the most points at the end wins, because that so often leads to anticlimactic endings. So,with the Match Point format — it never gets old. The energy from the players, the energy from the fans. It’s just an incredible experience. And the POI draft is another instance of innovation where, in a Battle Royale, it formalizes the POI selection process. Making it a really interesting, strategic event in and of itself for players and fans.

GINX TV: So looking ahead to the future of the ALGS, both immediate and distant, how do you foresee it growing? 

Nelson: We're always looking, again, to push innovation with the ALGS. Looking for opportunities where we can continue to make the experience better for players, better for fans. That's something that drives us every day. We're constantly learning and being present at events like this and saying: “How can we do this better next time?” or, when it comes to this year's Championship, “maybe we can do this in a different way” and just make things more exciting for fans, make things even better for players. That's what drives us.

GINX TV: And as the game evolves, as the ALGS evolves, how do you ensure that the barrier to entry doesn’t rise too high? Both for prospective pros, and also for new audiences? 

Nelson: I can take that in two parts. From a player perspective, we have a lot of our attention, not just on the Pro League but also the Challenger Circuit, Preseason Qualifier experience. We love the open tournaments that we're able to organize online all around the world. Also we’re really proud of the fact that the number of players that compete in those tournaments has continued to grow year over year, over year. Just an incredible, thriving amateur community of players who compete to try to get here, on the big stage. 

From a fan perspective, we're always looking at ways to continue to deliver more information, more statistics to make the viewing experience easier. Over the years we've established the HUD that you see while you're watching, being able to see which team you’re watching, how many points they have, what place they're at currently in the standings. There’s the overlay that lets you get a window into a player's backpack and all the things that they carry, and you can then emulate their strategy when you play the game yourself. The ticker on the top of the screen that gives you all that statistical information, how many players are alive in each team, and just delivering that information in real time.

It's wild, actually. You can go back and look at some of the really early ALGS broadcasts and compare them to today, in terms of the amount of information that we're now delivering to fans to make that experience better.

GINX TV: I imagine it’s all part of the process; constantly learning and evolving and adapting to what an audience wants to see. It feels like a unique challenge in the Battle Royale space, with so many teams competing on one map, and showing that in a way an audience can digest. 

Nelson: On that note, we've delivered Multi-View, which we’ve always felt was an essential fan experience. You have 20 teams competing at the same time, we can only really show you one team at a particular time. But if you're a fan of a particular player, or a particular team, that's who you want to follow. Are they still alive? Are they fighting right now? How are they doing? Are they in a good spot? And Multi-View really allows you to to consume the ALGS in that way, to watch your favorite player, or your favorite team, even hear their in-game comms to understand the plays that they're making.

I touched on a little bit before, but so much about that fan experience is being able to show players the things that these amazing pros are able to do. Maybe they can take that away and bring it into their own gameplay when they play at home with their friends, or even if they themselves are an aspiring Pro.

The ALGS Year 4 Split 2 Playoffs is taking place in Mannheim, Germany at the SAP Arena. You can catch the action as it unfolds throughout the tournament on the official Apex Legends Twitch stream.