Rocket League: Esports for the Masses

Rocket League: Esports for the Masses

Esports has been around for quite a long time. Up until recently, it was most popular in countries like Korea, where sold-out stadiums would hold massive tournaments for games such as Starcraft and Dota 2. Today, we’re in the midst of a huge undertaking to grow the esports scene here in North America. While it’s definitely the center of conversation within the gaming community, esports is still far from the center of mainstream consciousness. Most people didn’t even realize the kind of money some competitors made until hearing of professional Fortnite player Bugha’s three million dollar World Cup win. Aside from this, esports still has a long way to go to gain a solid foothold in a region dominated by traditional sports. Many companies are throwing millions upon millions of dollars into the venture, with arguably the most high profile investment being Activision-Blizzard’s Overwatch League, which managed to attract the likes of Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots. Epic Games has also leveraged the popularity of Fortnite (and their war chest of money) to bring in younger and more casual gamers. In addition to these, many other publishers are taking a crack at esports. From CS:GO (arguably the current favorite among NA viewers) to Farming Simulator, many are seeing solid results in terms of viewership, but nothing that consistently holds a candle to the numbers that football and baseball bring in every year. Particularly among the casual side of the gaming community, many esports events are difficult to follow, and the spectator viewing experience for most games is less than ideal. On top of that, almost no game has been very successful in bringing in a completely outside audience who has never played said game before. If you don’t play it, it’s probably really hard to follow. But that’s where a little game called Rocket League comes into play…..

Initially released back in 2015, Rocket League is the sequel to Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars. When it first released, it opened to middling fanfare. There wasn’t exactly an enormous fanbase for SARPBC, so why would there be one for Rocket League? But that’s where Psyonix, the developers of Rocket League, made one of the gutsiest calls imaginable:

They gave away the game for free.

Through the online subscription program PlayStation Plus, users had a month to get the game by paying exactly nothing for it. This was an insane strategy, especially considering that Psyonix was a completely independent studio. No one could have predicted how much success that decision would lead to. Thanks to immense word of mouth coverage by both individuals playing the game and content creators alike, Psyonix reported that as of 2018, Rocket League has over 50 million players worldwide. Building upon this success, Psyonix started its own dedicated esports league, the Rocket League Championship Series. Since its inception, the RLCS prize pool has grown from $55,000 to a staggering $1,000,000. Even more indicative of its success is its viewership numbers, which hit over 200,000 in the most recent RLCS championship.

These results are impressive, especially given the size and lack of notoriety that Psyonix carried prior to Rocket League’s release. All of the success and growth of Rocket League as an esport is helmed by three core principles: An overall positive community, unrivaled spectator views, and an incredibly low barrier to entry for new viewers.

Among every community, you can find toxic individuals and groups. Rocket League has its share of unsavory characters, but on the whole, I’ve never seen a more welcoming and friendly group. Yes, it has its drama, but even the pro scene is dominated by sportsmanship and healthy (albeit fierce) competition. I had the opportunity to go to the season 6 RLCS finals, and the entire US-based crowd cheered for both North American and European teams, including creating chants for each. Compared to other games like League of Legends and CS:GO, which are well known for incredibly toxic communities, Rocket League stands as an almost too friendly enigma that makes it exponentially easier for new players to jump in.

I’m a massive Overwatch fan, so when the Overwatch League was announced, I was all over it. But when I started watching the games and tried to introduce my family to it, my brother gave up trying to understand it after 30 seconds, and my parents got physically sick from all of the on-screen movement. While to this day I continue to be a fan, it’s clear the Overwatch League is built for players of the game, not a general audience. And there’s nothing wrong with that! Overwatch League is pioneering in many areas, but attracting the casual or completely uninitiated viewership is not one of them. This is how most esports function. Games are by nature complex, and as a result can be difficult to follow, especially given the inherent difficulty of good in-game viewing angles. That’s why the work that Psyonix has done to create a high-quality viewer experience is so impressive. Partially due to the design of the game, the in-game camera showcases matches to a level on par with traditional sports. From hardcore players to non-gamers alike, it’s hard to get lost while watching a Rocket League match.

Rocket League is a perfect example of the design adage “Easy to learn, but difficult to master.” Rocket League is quite literally soccer with rocket-powered battle cars. That’s it. Yes, there is a lot of nuance and tons of advanced mechanics that high-level players use, but the goal is still to drive your car and get the ball into the other team’s net. Pretty much everyone can follow everything that’s happening on screen. When the ball goes into a goal, it’s clear who scored. If you turn on a match that’s already in progress, you’ll instantly know who’s winning by looking at the score. And this is where Rocket League stands head and shoulders above every other esport, and why it has the potential to eventually become the game that brings esports long-term into the mainstream spotlight here in North America.

While it’s currently far from the biggest esport in North America, Rocket League’s potential is unmatched when it comes to attracting the mainstream. Given that they were recently bought by Epic Games, they’re only going to keep growing moving forward. It’s a slow, steady climb, but when the current esports frenzy dies down, Rocket League is going to have a strong, passionate, and varied fanbase backing them up, with all of the pieces in place to keep growing and introducing new people to the wonderful world of competitive gaming.