If you grind Apex Legends Ranked at the higher tiers, your next two weeks are about to look very different. Respawn has officially locked in the start date for its Diamond Plus solo queue-only test, and it kicks off on June 30th. The studio shared the news through the Apex Live Comms channel, putting an end to weeks of speculation about when this experiment would actually go live.
When Does the Apex Legends Solo Queue Test Start and End
Mark your calendar. The test begins June 30th at 10 am PT and is scheduled to run until July 13th. Respawn left itself a little wiggle room here, noting that the test could wrap early if the team gathers enough data before that final date. So if you are planning to climb during this window, treat it as a roughly two-week stretch rather than a guaranteed full run.
What the Diamond Plus Solo Queue Only Test Actually Changes
Here is the part that matters for your squad. During the test, anyone ranked Diamond or higher will not be able to queue into Ranked as a premade group. So, that means no rolling in with your duo or your full three-stack once you hit Diamond. Everyone at that level will be matchmaking solo, full stop.
Premade squads have long been a point of friction in Ranked, with solo players often feeling like they are at a disadvantage against coordinated trios running comms and set strategies. This test is Respawn taking a real swing at that imbalance and seeing what the data says when everyone at the top is on equal footing.
The Real Reason Why the Solo Queue Test Was Delayed
If you have been following this story, you know the solo queue test was teased a while back and then went quiet. Respawn finally explained what was going on behind the scenes, and the reasoning is actually pretty reasonable once you hear it.
The studio pointed back to a recent matchmaking blog where it talked about running frequent and varied matchmaking tests. The problem is that this fast pace occasionally causes complications. Respawn was upfront about the fact that some outages during the last split were tied directly to these kinds of tests. After that, the team decided to put stability ahead of everything else.
The solo queue delay came straight out of that decision. Respawn wanted to be absolutely sure that all of its systems were in a stable enough place to run this test safely and reliably, rather than rushing it out and risking another round of problems. The studio basically said it needed to wait until it felt confident, and after watching matchmaking stability hold up over recent weeks, it now believes June 30th can go ahead with minimal risk.
Whether you love this change or hate it, you are going to feel it if you play at Diamond or above. Solo players might finally get the cleaner climbing experience they have been asking for, while premade squads will have to either solo queue or stick to unranked modes during the test window.
