If you’ve ever queued up for Apex Legends and wished you could test your skills without relying on random teammates or coordinating with friends, you’ve almost certainly asked: does apex legends have solo mode? For years, players have begged Respawn Entertainment to add a permanent single-player queue, and the studio has tested the mode multiple times over the game’s lifespan. As someone who’s played Apex every season since launch, I’ve jumped into every limited-time solo run that’s dropped, and I’m breaking down everything you need to know about the mode’s status, past iterations, and how you can play solo even when no official queue is available.
Does Apex Legends Have Solo Mode Permanently Right Now?
The short answer is no, there is no permanent solo battle royale queue available in Apex Legends as of today. The only permanent public queues are standard trios, standard duos, ranked trios, ranked duos, and the rotating Mixtape playlist of team-based objective modes. But each time, the studio opted not to make the mode permanent, for a handful of core gameplay reasons.
Respawn has repeatedly stated that permanent solos would break the core gameplay loop of Apex Legends, which is built around team coordination and complementary legend kits. Most legend abilities are designed to support teammates, not just benefit the individual user. For example, Lifeline’s healing drone and resurrections are useless when you’re playing alone, while Gibraltar’s dome shield and defensive bombardment are meant to protect entire squads, not just one player. Rebalancing every legend to work for solo play would require massive overhauls that would alienate the majority of players who prefer team-based matches.
Respawn also found through internal testing that permanent solo queues led to higher churn for new players. New users who dropped into solo lobbies were far more likely to get eliminated within the first minute of the match by experienced players, with no teammates to help them learn the ropes or get a revive if they made a small mistake.
What Limited-Time Apex Legends Solo Events Have Run in the Past?
While there’s no permanent solo mode, Respawn has run limited-time solo queues a total of four times since Apex launched in 2019, usually tied to major collection events. The first ever solo mode launched with the Season 2 Iron Crown Collection Event, and it was the most standard version of the mode: 60 player lobbies, no teams, no respawns, last legend standing takes the win. It was wildly popular with casual players who wanted to practice their aim and movement without the pressure of team play.
Later solo mode variants added unique twists to keep the gameplay fresh. The second run in Season 5 included Armed and Dangerous solos, which restricted loot to only shotguns and snipers to reward accurate, long-range play. The third run in Season 10 added Control solos, a variant of the 9v9 objective mode where players competed individually to capture points and earn eliminations, with no team scores to rely on. The most recent solo run in Season 16 brought back the standard battle royale solo format, with adjusted ring timers to make matches move faster.
Most limited-time solo runs stay available for 2 to 4 weeks, and Respawn usually teases their return 7 to 10 days before the associated collection event launches. If you want to catch the next run, keep an eye on official Apex social media accounts for announcements.
Top Tips for Playing Solo Even When No Official Queue Exists
You don’t have to wait for the next limited-time event to play Apex alone. Thousands of players run “solo queued solo” matches in regular duo or trio lobbies every day, and they’re a great way to practice your skills or just play at your own pace without coordinating with strangers. Even though the answer to does apex legends have solo mode permanently is no right now, these unofficial runs are just as fun as the official limited-time modes, as long as you follow a few simple rules:
- Turn off fill when you queue for trios or duos, so you don’t get matched with random teammates. This lets you drop alone, loot alone, and make all your own calls without having to compromise with a squad. You’ll still be matched against full teams, but you won’t have to worry about letting anyone down if you make a mistake.
- Pick legends that perform well without team support. Mobile, self-sufficient legends like Wraith, Octane, and Horizon are the best picks for unofficial solo play, since they have built-in escape abilities and don’t rely on team buffs or heals to survive. Avoid picking support or defensive legends like Lifeline or Newcastle, whose kits offer almost no benefit for individual play.
- Avoid hot drops unless you’re confident in your 1v3 skills. Most teams drop together at high-traffic spots like Fragment East or Capitol City, so landing alone at these locations will almost always get you eliminated within the first two minutes of the match. Stick to medium-traffic loot spots on the edge of the map, where you can gear up before running into other squads.
- Don’t be afraid to disengage from fights you can’t win. You don’t have a teammate to revive you if you go down, so it’s always better to run away and reposition than to take a risky fight against a full team. Use your legend’s mobility abilities to get out of bad spots, and only take fights when you’re sure you have the element of surprise.
I’ve run hundreds of these unofficial solo matches over the years, and they’re one of my favorite ways to warm up before playing ranked with my squad. If you want a more fair fight where you’re only going up against other solo players, you can also join community-run solo servers, where hundreds of players gather to play unofficial solo matches with rules enforced by server moderators. These servers are usually advertised on Apex community Discord servers, and they’re a great middle ground between official limited-time runs and solo queuing in regular lobbies.
Will Apex Legends Ever Get a Permanent Solo Mode?
Respawn has not completely ruled out adding a permanent solo mode at some point in the future, but all official statements from the studio over the past few years have leaned heavily against it. The biggest barrier is the amount of work it would take to balance the game for both solo and team play. The studio would either have to rebalance every legend to work for both modes, or create a separate balance pool exclusively for solo play, which would double the amount of work the dev team has to do every season.
There’s also the risk that a permanent solo mode would split the player base too thin, leading to longer queue times for all modes, especially in lower-population regions. Respawn already deals with long queue times for some less popular modes in smaller regions, and adding another permanent queue would only make that problem worse.
For the foreseeable future, all solo mode runs will be limited-time events tied to in-game collection events or seasonal milestones. Respawn has hinted that they plan to run solo mode at least once a year moving forward, so you won’t have to wait more than 12 months to play an official solo queue if you miss a run.
At the end of the day, if you’re asking does apex legends have solo mode, the short answer is not permanently, but there are plenty of ways to play single-player style if that’s what you enjoy. Whether you wait for the next limited-time event run, jump into an unofficial solo match in a regular trio lobby, or join a community-run solo server, you can still get all the fast-paced, high-skill gameplay Apex is known for without playing with a team. Just remember to adjust your playstyle to account for the lack of teammates, and don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a win right away – playing against full teams alone is hard, and every elimination you get is a win in its own right.