Rocket League Rocket Pass 6 is a vehicular soccervideo game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June 2016, 505 Games began distributing a physical retail version for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment taking over those duties by the end of 2017. Versions for macOS and Linux were also released in 2016, but support for their online services was dropped in 2020. The game went free-to-play in September 2020.
Described as “soccer, but with rocket-powered cars”, Rocket League has up to eight players assigned to each of the two teams, using rocket-powered vehicles to hit a ball into their opponent’s goal and score points over the course of a match. The game includes single-player and multiplayer modes which can be played both locally and online, including cross-platform play between all versions. Later updates for the game enabled the ability to modify core rules and added new game modes, including ones based on ice hockey and basketball.
Rocket League is a sequel to Psyonix’s Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, a 2008 video game for the PlayStation 3. Battle-Cars received mixed reviews and was not a success, but gained a loyal fan base. Psyonix continued to support themselves through contract development work for other studios while looking to develop a sequel. Psyonix began formal development of Rocket League around 2013, refining the gameplay from Battle-Cars to address criticism and fan input. Psyonix also recognized their lack of marketing from Battle-Cars and engaged in both social media and promotions to market the game, including offering the game for free for PlayStation Plus members on release.
Rocket League was praised for its gameplay improvements over Battle-Cars, as well as its graphics and overall presentation, although some criticism was directed towards the game’s physics engine. The game earned a number of industry awards, and saw over 10 million sales and 40 million players by the beginning of 2018. Rocket League has also been adopted as an esport, with professional players participating through ESL and Major League Gaming along with Psyonix’s own Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS).
Rocket League‘s gameplay is largely the same as that of its predecessor, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars. Players control a rocket-powered car and use it to hit a ball that is much larger than the cars towards the other team’s goal area to score goals, in a way that resembles a soccer game, with elements reminiscent of a demolition derby.[1][2] Players’ cars have the ability to jump to hit the ball while in mid-air. The players can also pick up a speed boost by passing their cars over marked spaces on the field, enabling them to quickly cross the field, use the added momentum to hit the ball, or ram into another player’s car to destroy it; in the latter case, the destroyed car respawns moments later on a random side of the field. A player may also use a boost when in the air to propel themselves forward in flight, allowing players to hit the ball in the air. Players can alter their car’s orientation while midair, which combined with midair boosting allows for controlled flight. Players can also perform quick dodges, causing their car to do a short jump and spin in a given direction, which can be used to nudge the ball or gain positioning advantage over the other team.[3]
Matches are usually five minutes long, with a sudden death overtime if the game is tied at that point.[4] Matches can be played from between one-on-one up to four-on-four players, as well as in casual and ranked playlists.[5] The latter serves as Rocket League‘s competitive online mode, where players compete in various tiered ranks within game seasons, with victories or losses raising or lowering a player’s rank, respectively.[6] The game includes a single-player “season” mode, with the player competing with computer-controlled players. An update in December 2016 introduced “Custom Training” sequences that can be created by players and shared with others on the same platform; players are able to specify the ball’s path and the presence and skill of opponents on the field as to practice specific shots-on-goal over and over.[7]
A few months after it was released, Psyonix released an update that added game modes known as “mutators”, modifying some aspects of gameplay, such as increased or decreased gravity, ball size, ball speed and bounciness.[8] For the 2015 holiday season, another update replaced mutator matches with an ice hockey-inspired mode (called “Snow Day”), played on an ice rink and the ball replaced with a hockey puck with different physics.[9] Positive reception to the ice hockey mode led to it being extended for a few weeks after the holiday season. Snow Day was permanently added to the mutator settings for private matches and exhibition games on February 10, 2016.[10][11] “Hoops”, a game mode based on basketball, was added on April 26, 2016.[12][13][14][15] A separate “Rumble” mode, which incorporates unusual power-ups, such as the ability to freeze the ball in place or cause a single opponent to have difficulty controlling their car, was added on September 8, 2016.[16] An update in December 2016, known as “Starbase ARC” (based on Psyonix’ mobile game ARC Squadron)[17] added support for custom arenas for Windows players supported through Steam Workshop, along with other new content.[18]
A new game mode, Dropshot, was added in a March 2017 update. It takes place in an arena without any goals and a field made of hexagonal tiles, and uses a ball that becomes increasingly electrified after successful strikes or passes. The more the ball is struck by players without touching the ground the more electrified it becomes, and the more tiles it damages once it finally does hit the ground. The goal of the mode is to damage the opponent’s floor enough to break a hole into it, allowing the ball to drop through and score. Once a team scores, the floor on that side of the field resets to normal (while the floor on the scoring team’s side retains any existing damage).[19][20]
As part of a means to monetize the game beyond downloadable content, Psyonix has tried a few different approaches. In September 2016, it introduced a loot box system known as “Crates”, where players could purchase them with a random selection of in-game customization items, opened through the purchase of Keys using real-world funds.[16] Due to increasing governmental concern over loot boxes, Psyonix replaced the Crates system with Blueprints in December 2019, which offer a known specific item with potential modifiers as potential end-of-match drops.[21] These Blueprints can then be crafted using the game’s new premium currency (Credits)[22], or purchased with real-world funds, if the player so chooses.[23][24] A new rotating Item Shop was introduced in December 2019 as well, with Featured items available on a 48-hour timer and Daily items on a 24-hour timer. The Item Shop includes all types of in-game items, such as Painted Cars, Exotic Wheels, Goal Explosions, and many more. Each item has a listed Credit value that will show the item’s cost, allowing players to purchase the exact item they want, instead of relying on RNG to attain a specific item previously available through loot boxes.[25] Separately, Psyonix added a battle pass feature to the game in September 2018, known as the “Rocket Pass”. Each pass, which lasts a few months, has challenges and other opportunities through playing Rocket League that allow players to increase the tier of the Pass, from which new unique customization options tied to that pass can be unlocked. While the Rocket Pass is free to all players, a flat-cost premium option can be purchased which accelerates the level up rate and unlocks additional items at certain tier levels.[26][27] The earlier mentioned “Snow Day” was brought back permanently.
