Apex Legends Dev Talks Ranked Demotion and Why They Disagree

One Apex Legends Ranked mode developer has taken to Twitter to discuss the requested ranked demotion mechanic.

Aaron L (@Exgeniar) took to their Twitter profile on Dec. 31, 2021, to discuss certain aspects of the game's structure—including why they disagreed with adding Demotion to the game. According to them, quite a bit about Apex, such as "RP reward structures" and "kills vs placements," had to do with "Loss Aversion" and the potential for player frustration and/or discouragement. This caught the attention of some Apex Legends players who believed adding a demotion mechanic would be beneficial for ranked mode.

Apex Legends Ranked Dev Doesn't Want Demotion

"People hate losing thing[s] about twice as much as gaining things," Exgeniar explained, "People will behave irrationally, and to great lengths to prevent that loss."

Another user replied that this was precisely why demotion would be valuable. Having that threat in place leans into the "great lengths" players would take to "prevent that loss."

"People will try much harder in ranked to not lose their rating," they wrote.

Exgeniar disagreed, writing, "I assert they would just not play instead."

The user pushed back with support from others that the drive to reach the next Ranked tier would outweigh the demotion threat and that it would be a reprieve from unskilled teammates populating the lobbies of better players. Still, Exgeniar disagreed, stating that demotion would have no effect on this "because those players that would have demoted would have filled your game anyways."

"In a world with Demotions, demoted players don't really have to care about their 'rank' because their primary goal of 'Get reward from Diamond/Masters' would have already been achieved. This means demotion will still be ineffective." They went on to say.

It's unclear whether or not the Apex team is seriously considering demotions but, from the looks of this debate, it's unlikely to be added in anytime soon.