Respawn Entertainment, the developer of Apex Legends, has declared that Ranked Rumble, a multiplayer option that is returning to the game, will be delayed. The original plan was for the mode to make a comeback in Apex Legends Season 22.

Competitive live-service games, such as Apex Legends, are always under pressure to keep the mood and balance that players find enjoyable in the game while expanding and introducing new features and content. Keeping the game balanced presents additional challenges because doubtful players could start to doubt the decisions made even before they make their debut. An instance of this was when certain players criticized the Battle Sense feature of Apex Legends Season 22 prior to the season's official release.

Ranked Rumble, a feature that was supposed to launch with Season 22, has also just been postponed. Respawn Entertainment announced that the September 13, 2024, debut date for Ranked Rumble's comeback has been pushed back. A variation on the regular Apex Legends ranked mode, Ranked Rumble offers players the opportunity to compete on distinct leaderboards according to each rank tier. Season 22 brought new Apex Legends battleground E-District along with balancing adjustments for many playable characters and weapons, in addition to Ranked Rumble.

Respawn Entertainment did not provide a detailed explanation for the Apex Legends Ranked Rumble delay when it made the announcement. All it said was that it has listened to player input and that, before bringing the mode back, it will work on enhancements and tweaks. Apex Legends Senior Community Manager Karen Lee responded to the official article on Twitter by saying that Respawn was "going back to the drawing board" with Ranked Rumble and urged users to follow upcoming patch notes for additional information.

Online comments on Ranked Rumble's postponement ranged from encouraging to irate. Citing past grievances with the previous version of Ranked Rumble, a few players expressed their appreciation for the decision. Among these complaints were issues with matchmaking for higher rankings and glitches that placed players in the incorrect rank. Some urged Respawn to fix further bugs pertaining to weapons, ranked play, and overall game experience problems. Another much-maligned occurrence involved a bug that reset many players' ranked ranks by causing the regular Apex Legends Ranked split to occur too early.

Players' discontent with the Ranked Rumble experience suggests that the recently released Apex Legends Season 22 mode may not live up to the highest standards of the game. Respawn might have done the right thing by delaying the mode's return so that it could be fine-tuned, as opposed to causing more player annoyance.