Apex Legends Women’s Comp is back, but there is still no publisher support for women’s leagues

Hannah Marie ZT, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 30/07/2025

Apex Legends Women’s Comp is an unofficial competitive circuit for female and gender minority Apex Legends players. Despite having a long and complex history, as well as significant community support, it is not an officially publisher-supported competitive league. 

Thanks to community figures like Jenni ‘Yuusaki’ Niemi and RynoLive, Apex Legends Women’s Comp is regaining traction. This traction is not only crucial in the present, it also echoes Women’s Comp’s prime in 2023. 

It is time for EA to respect the potential of Apex Legends’ ladies. 

Celes joins the Queen’s Cup to offer Apex Legends Women’s Comp tournaments

The Celestial Cup, also known as Celes Women’s League, is a women’s competitive circuit primarily run by pro Apex Player Jenni ‘Yuusaki’ Niemi. 

Alongside regularly competing in the ALGS Challenger Circuit, ALGS Preseason Qualifiers, and multiple third-party tournaments, Yuusaki is also responsible for creating and running the Celes Women’s League.

The Celes X (formerly Twitter) profile fell silent in July 2023. However, on July 22nd 2025, the page published its first post in over two years.

Sign-ups for the tournament series are now open, with the first three weeks of competition scheduled to run from August 3rd to the week beginning August 17th.

However, Celes Women’s League is not the only Apex Legends Women’s Comp circuit currently live. 

Run by MPIRE Gaming’s RynoLive, the Queen’s Cup also recently rebooted its women’s circuit in July 2025. Two leagues usually run during Queen’s Cup seasons. First is the primary Queen’s Cup circuit, and second is the accompanying Princess Cup circuit. 

The Queen’s Cup typically hosts the stronger performing teams, while the Princess Cup offers players the opportunity to build experience and try new rosters.

A throwback to Women’s Comp’s 2023 Heyday: Why is the return of Celes and the Queen’s Cup so important?

2023 was a big year for the women’s competitive circuit. Celes and Risen Rose ran regular tournament seasons. 

With regular competition extending into 2024 thanks to the Queens Cup and Oversight Series, major teams such as TSM, Luminosity Gaming, and Dark Zero signed competitive all-female rosters. 

In a bid to build on the momentum building in Apex Legends Women’s Comp, or perhaps an attempt to unfairly capitalise on it, the HerGalaxy 10k tournament was announced. 

HerGalaxy was a tournament company with roots stemming back to the large Saudi Arabian esports organisation Galaxy Racer. They announced a female-only tournament series, complete with a Match Point final and $100,000 USD (~£75,000 GBP) in total prize money. 

From the start, the tournament was divisive. HerGalaxy region-locked the competition to North America. This excluded well-known and highly respected players such as Yuusaki, Kornelia ‘Sabz’ Zawistowska, and Caitlin ‘PrettyBondGirl’. 

There were also controversial discussions concerning the inclusion of transgender players and reports of cheating. HerGalaxy appeared to suffer from “severe mismanagement” right from the start. 

After the tournament’s conclusion, players were left waiting for their prize money. They continued to wait until the end of the period outlined in the contract. Then, they waited (albeit less quietly) for the months that followed.

To date, not a penny has been paid to a single competitor, and the $100,000 prize pool mysteriously disappeared from consideration when HerGalaxy was eventually shut down. 

The fall of HerGalaxy was a bitter disappointment to the Apex Legends Women’s Comp community. Many hope that tournaments of that status will be held again, this time with all promises duly fulfilled. 

Calls for publisher support as EA still neglects to host official women’s circuits

Other women’s circuits have been organised since the HerGalaxy controversy. Professional players and broadcast talent alike have expressed their support for the women’s scene in interviews and online. Even the AGLS scrim partners, Oversight, ran a women’s circuit in 2024. However, there has never been official publisher support from EA. 

Publisher support would hopefully protect players from a repeat of the HerGalaxy non-payment controversy. It would also potentially give Apex Legends and the ALGS the same status that has been achieved by Valorant and Counter-Strike as pioneering esports scenes for gender equality. 

Valorant Champions Tour Game Changers and ESL Impact are both successful women’s circuits. They have led to significant investment from major esports organisations in female and gender minority rosters. 

Although Apex Legends is behind the curve, particularly now that League of Legends is gaining its own Game Changers tournament, it would still be a marked improvement for equality of opportunity in esports.

For now, the Apex Legends community will continue to shoulder responsibility for furthering equality of opportunity in the esports scene. 

The return of Celes and continuation of the Queens Cup are a good indication that Apex Legends Women’s Comp will continue thriving. Who knows what heights it could reach with the proper support. 

Hannah Marie ZT, Senior Editor

Hannah is a journalist specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports, Apex Legends, and advocating for women's esports initiatives. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ALGS LANs, ESI London, EGX, and watch parties.

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