Rocket League: soccer and cars united without leaving the garage

Psyonix knew how to squeeze the germ of Rocket League and improve it until it seduced more than 50 million players and turned it into a magnificent esport.

October 2008. An unknown Psyonix published Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars for PlayStation 3, an unprecedented game in which two teams of several cars had to put the ball into the opposite goal . Its simplicity and entertainment seduced a small niche of players (approximately 2 million) but it is not a work that will go down in history.

However, his “son” was much luckier than him. Encouraged by a good reception from the public and knowing that it was a very improvable product, the developer was encouraged to release a second installment. Rocket League came out for the next generation of its predecessor: PC, Xbox One, PS4, and for almost 12 months now, Switch.

Four years ago, on July 7, 2015, Rocket League came to light , a title designed for multiplayer with friends and with characteristics to become a good esport . But no one thought that its echo would go so far: towards the end of last year it reached 50 million players , a spectacular figure that shows a great mobilization, both for the most casual players and for those most loyal to the video game.

Prices and gameplay

The premise of the game is attractive as well as entertaining : score goals with a car. There is, a priori , nothing more convoluted. For this reason, he caught the attention of people so much, that through YouTube, Twitch and other streaming platforms they met him. And, when they went to check the price, they thought that they would not undertake too high an investment for something that could generate hours and hours of entertainment. For only €20—and surely less, because it is usually on sale most of the year—one would enjoy a work that would bring together up to a maximum of 4 friends per team.

And that’s where the addictive component of Rocket League begins, in its social potential : form a team with friends, divide offensive and defensive tasks, check the evolution of skills, improve the ranking of qualifiers… A perfect game for gamer bars .

But what seems simple on paper turns out to be just the opposite on the field of play. Learning to orient yourself on the field, to position yourself according to the position of your teammates, to dominate the dimensions of the ball, to fly to shoot in the air or save the ball, to pass with precision… The Psyonix game poses a lot of challenges. challenges despite its apparent ease.

Steam Rocket League

One of the words that could best define the game would be freedom . If you think about other sports titles like NBA or FIFA: yes, there are dozens and dozens of options to score goals or points, but they are all preset. Players’ movements follow a pattern and are often guided, as is their shooting, crossing or dribbling. Just the opposite happens in Rocket League: it’s you who, placing the car according to what way, going at a certain speed and position, perform all those actions.

The rule is simple: score one more goal than the opponent to win . There is nothing else. You can push the rival car, drive it crazy by constantly following it, and even blow it up without taking any kind of penalty beyond the other player’s anger.

Rocket League is more soccer than Pro Evolution Soccer or FIFA . His incessant need to collaborate with the rest of his teammates make him a real team game. It is not necessary to score or give assists to be considered useful: defend, help the rest to recover their place on the field, respond to the rival’s offense… That is why reading the team’s weaknesses and cooperating with them to achieve victory becomes a pillar . And that is precisely what a collective sport consists of.

an excellent sport

Its versatility, dynamism and frenzy make it a very entertaining esports game. Big brands in the world of electronic sports such as Dignitas, Cloud9 or G2 have a section, even the most important football clubs in the world such as PSG or Fútbol Club Barcelona have opened up to hosting a competitive squad.

Although still overshadowed by other big titles, its broadcast data is quite encouraging: the fifth season of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) had an average of 80,000 viewers . In fact, they closed the year 2018 with 18 million hours watched live, 5 more than the previous year.

According to Newzoo, the Psyonix title was ranked 6th most viewed esports on Twitch last May , with a 48% share and a total of 2.9 million hours. It is second only to HearthStone , Overwatch , Counter Strike , Dota 2 , and League of Legends , respectively.

One of the main facilities as an electronic sport lies in its crossplay, that is, in the possibility that players from different consoles can play against each other .

Despite this, from Psyonix they know that the esports organization section of the game is not as good as it could be. That’s why when Epic Games, owner of the well-known Fortnite, offered to buy Rocket League , the company decidedly accepted the proposal. “It is a great move for the esports ecosystem because it significantly increases our potential and our resources,” they said in the press release where they made the agreement official.

It only remains to be seen what a giant like Epic Games can contribute to a game with a lot of competitive potential like Psyonix’s , which is beginning to run out of space in its showcases due to the success of Rocket League: BAFTA Award for best multiplayer, for best family game , for best sports game…

The United States, Germany, Colombia… There are many countries where important competitions of this famous car and soccer game are held.