Respawn is making a small but noticeable change to how Ranked matches kick off in Apex Legends. The Champion Squad screen, the one that briefly spotlights the top squad before you load in, is getting cut from the Ranked match start flow. Starting June 23 with the Overclocked midseason update, you go from the Your Squad screen straight into the dropship.
What Is Changing in Ranked?
For as long as most players can remember, every match has opened with the same little ceremony. You pick your legend, the game shows your trio on the Your Squad screen, and then it cuts to the Champion Squad, hyping up whichever team earned the spotlight from their last game. It was a few seconds of flair before the real action started.
In Ranked, that middle step is going away. You will still see your own squad on the Your Squad screen, and then the game loads you right into the dropship. No more pause to admire the champions. Just you, your teammates, and the drop.
The Real Reason Why Respawn Is Cutting the Champion Squad Screen
The reasoning here is pretty grounded. In Ranked, the information shown on the Champion Squad screen does not really carry the same weight it does in Pubs. Knowing who the so-called champions are does not change how you approach a competitive match, so the screen was mostly adding time without adding value. Trimming it keeps the front end of a match tighter and gets you into the game faster.
If you queue Ranked a lot, those extra seconds add up across a long session. This is one of those quality-of-life tweaks that you probably will not think much about after a week, but you would absolutely notice if it suddenly came back.
When does the change go live?
The update lands on June 23 as part of the Overclocked midseason patch. That same patch is bringing legend balancing changes, new shotgun hop-ups, and a pile of fixes and improvements, so the Champion Squad removal is just one piece of a much larger drop.
Honestly, this is a clean win for anyone who grinds Ranked. Faster load-ins, less downtime between queueing and playing, and one fewer screen between you and the next match. Pubs still keep the full presentation, so the Champion Squad moment is not vanishing from the game entirely. It is just stepping aside where it makes the most sense.
Whether you will miss that little burst of recognition or happily wave it goodbye probably depends on how often you found yourself in that squad. Either way, come June 23, Ranked is getting a touch leaner.
