Can you have a 4 player squad in Apex?
As a passionate Apex player myself, one question I see pop up again and again is this – can you have a 4 player squad? Friends want to be able to drop into Kings Canyon together. And sadly, the answer is no. Let me explain why…
The Magic 3 Player Number
Since launch, the standard squad size for Apex Battle Royale matches has always been 3 players. With 20 teams of 3 dropping into each competitive match, that leads to the magic number of 60 players in each lobby. The 3 squad setup allows for coordinated teamplay while avoiding too chaotic of an experience once the firing starts.
In Nov 2020, one of Apex‘s former leads explained their testing process and why 3 emerged as the ideal numer:
"When you play Quads [4 player squads], which we tested early on, the combat becomes nearly untrackable. It‘s chaotic in a negative way."
So while unintuitive, 3 emerged as the Goldilocks zone – not too few, not too many. Just right.
Experiments with Larger Squads
That said, Respawn HAS experimented with 4 player squads…just never for very long. Some limited time event modes briefly featured squads of 4:
| LTM Mode | Squad Size | When |
|---|---|---|
| Gold Rush Duos | 4 Players | Season 11, Jan 2022 |
| Armed and Dangerous Evolved | 4 players | September 2021 |
As you can see though, 4 player LTMs have been rare and short-lived. They use the format more as a novelty rather than serious competitive testing.
What About Other Squad Sizes?
Beyond trios, what other formats exist? A few do allow squad flexibility:
- Duos – Allow 2 player squads. Total lobby of 30 teams.
- Arenas – 3v3 format. Teams fight short-form deathmatch style matches.
- Certain LTMs – Some limited modes allow 6v6 team fights.
So opportunities exist for squad experimentation in other Apex game variants. But for Battle Royale itself? All signs point to 3 players remaining standard.
The Verdict – 3‘s Company, 4‘s a Crowd
I‘d personally love 4 player squads. It‘d let me run with my main friend group without having to rotate one of us out. But Respawn has prioritized quality gameplay over flexible team sizes. And it‘s hard to argue with the success – Apex remains one of the top BR shooters 3 years after launch.
So for now, trios is here to stay. Duos and LTMs add some variety on occasion. But in standard play, 3 legends per squad remains the name of the game.
