Apex is running two matchmaking tests, with cross-play limited to US-West

The default change is limited to US-West

EA’s October 6 update announced a matchmaking test that began the following day at about 10 a.m. Pacific Time. In the US-West server region, cross-play would be enabled by default for players across platforms. EA said the test was meant to shorten queues and tighten the range of skill levels inside matches, and it scheduled the test through the season’s November 3 end. The phrase default option matters: the notice describes a setting for a test, not a permanent worldwide rule or a new setting for every Apex player.

The region is the first check for anyone deciding whether the note applies to them. EA specifically names US-West servers, not all North American servers or every region. Players on other regions should not infer that their matchmaking pool changed just because they read the community notice. The change also concerns the cross-play default rather than a map, weapon or character balance patch. If you are on US-West and notice a different mix of platforms in your match, the test is the relevant context.

EA says console players may opt out by switching cross-play off in the settings menu. The message does not make the same opt-out claim for PC players, so the article should not promise that every platform has an equivalent control. Console players who want to avoid the tested pool can check that setting before queueing. The setting is reversible, but the trade-off may be a smaller queue; EA’s stated goal is to reduce waiting by drawing from a broader cross-platform pool.

Queue time and skill spread are the measures EA named

The experiment is not described as a way to make every match more competitive by default. EA says it is testing whether cross-play can shorten queue times while tightening skill bands. Those goals can pull in different directions: a broader pool may give the matchmaker more players to consider, while skill banding asks it to find a closer set of opponents. The official notice gives the purpose but not a numeric target for acceptable wait times or a promised improvement in match fairness.

EA Help’s general guide says cross-play is on automatically and describes disabling it as a console option. The October notice, meanwhile, presents US-West as a test that enables cross-play by default and says console players may opt out. It does not explain whether a previously saved preference is overwritten or how the test pool differs for players who already had cross-play enabled. That uncertainty does not change the useful check: open Cross Platform Play settings if the current platform mix matters to you, and confirm the server region. EA does not say the menu labels test participants separately.

That distinction helps read EA’s October 15 follow-up. The community manager said early data showed promising effects on queue times and match skill-widths, then announced that Wildcard matchmaking would join the test on October 16 at 10 a.m. PT. The update still limits the expansion to all platforms in US-West.

Wildcard is now part of the same regional experiment

Wildcard is a faster, more chaotic mode, so expanding matchmaking tests there lets EA observe the same queue policy in a different kind of match. EA has not explained whether the setting operates differently from the regular mode. Players should therefore read the extension narrowly: beginning October 16, Wildcard matchmaking in US-West was included in the test.

Independent coverage by the International Business Times Singapore on October 19 describes the possible trade-off as a longer search for opponents whose skill levels fit more closely. It also notes that Respawn has not published detailed figures for how much queue times or match balance changed. That is consistent with EA’s own wording, which says early data looks promising but does not give numbers. Until more data appears, a player can notice the test’s scope and toggle, but cannot calculate how many seconds it will add or remove from a queue.

A second test lengthens Plat+ searches in every region

A second matchmaking experiment began around the same week, but it has a different scope. EA’s Matchmaking Test Update says maximum queue search times increased for Plat-and-above players on all platforms in all regions. The increase scales by rank, with Masters players potentially seeing up to about 30 additional seconds. EA says the system waits longer for the tightest possible lobbies before widening the search, to reduce high-rank players spilling into mid-rank matches.

This test is separate from the US-West cross-play default test. Its audience is defined by rank, not by region, and the official notice says it will run until the season ends or EA has enough data. A player below Platinum is outside the queue-search test as described, although they could still fall within the regional cross-play test if they play in US-West. The two labels are easy to collapse into one matchmaking patch, but they affect different groups.

The overlap is most relevant to a Plat-or-higher player in US-West: cross-play expands the pool while the ranked search takes longer to find a narrower skill band. International Business Times Singapore noted that these simultaneous experiments make it difficult to tell which one explains any queue change. EA has not published numerical results that separate them. That means a longer wait in one match is not, by itself, evidence that either test has failed.

The test arrived alongside separate bug fixes

EA’s October 6 note lists two fixes alongside the cross-play experiment: missing floor geometry at Broken Moon’s Terraformer, which had allowed players to clip into the ground, and Gibraltar skydive-emote audio that continued after landing. A separate October 7 update says Alter’s Ultimate no longer fails to teleport players in certain tight spaces. Those are specific issue fixes, not evidence that the matchmaking test caused the bugs or that every Apex gameplay issue was resolved.

EA Help describes this control for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2: from the lobby, open the cogwheel Game Menu at the bottom right, select Settings, scroll to Cross Platform Play and choose Disabled. Choose Enabled to restore it. A disabled account matches only players on the same platform who also disabled cross-play. PC players cannot switch it off. The Friends menu marks whether friends are on PC or console; that icon describes their platform without identifying membership of either October experiment.