New to Rocket League? Here’s what you need to know:

Just recently, on the 23 of September, Epic Games released a new version of their hit game Rocket League featuring a free-to-play base game for all players to enjoy. And I’m going to tell you everything you need to know to get up to par.

But before I do that, I’d like to say how impressed I am with how many people have begun playing Rocket League  in the past seven days. Rocket League has seen a larger increase of peak players in this time frame than ever before! (Player count analytics can be found here: https://steamcharts.com/app/252950#1m)

Now let’s back to the purpose of this article:

What is Rocket League?

I’m sure a lot of you have an idea of what Rocket League is or you’ve at least heard of it. But for those of you who are completely out of the loop, here’s a short description of the game described by EvolveYouthSports:

“Rocket League is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. Described as ‘soccer, but with rocket-powered cars,’ Rocket League involves two teams that use 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 that can be played both locally and  online, including cross-platform play between the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows versions, as well as cross-play between Xbox One, Switch, and Windows versions.”

What’s the gameplay like?

The game features several game modes including Casual and Competitive versions of 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4.

Casual is unranked and you will be randomly paired with others in the Casual playlist, while Competitive is ranked and you will be paired with others in range of your skill level. Also in Competitive your rank will change throughout the season as you do worse or better. (hopefully the latter)

Is there a rewards system?

The game also features two versions of a season pass called a Rocket Pass: Free and Premium. You will complete matches or Challenges (More on that later) in order to level up this Rocket Pass. The Free version features minor rewards every few levels, while the Premium version features a reward every time you increase your level.

What are the rewards for us new players?

While the Premium pass does feature better rewards, new players aren’t out of luck. The Free pass does have a decent amount of rewards including Titles, Decals, Toppers, and Banners. But the current Rocket Pass also has a new kind of reward called Drops. There are Drops of different rarities. The higher the rarity is, the higher your chance of getting a rare item are. These Drops include randomised cosmetics and car parts of all kinds.

Is the Premium Pass worth buying?

While that is a matter of opinion and completely up to you, I do believe the Premium Rocket Pass is worth buying, reason being, you have access to more challenges, better rewards and Credits to buy things in the Item Shop such as limited edition cosmetics. The Premium Rocket Pass even has cosmetics you can’t get through any means other than the Premium pass itself.

What are the negatives on Rocket League?

The only problem I have encountered is the micro-transactions. In Rocket League, Epic Games has gone way too far in how often they encourage you to spend money. They do this by including an occasional Blueprint when you complete a match. I use the term “occasional” lightly. It’s more of a common occurrence.

What are these Blueprints though? Blueprints are basically a preview of something you have unlocked, such as a cosmetic or car piece. The problem is that to build the part that is featured in the Blueprint, you need to spend an in-game currency known as Credits, which you can only get from the Premium Rocket Pass or by purchasing them in your gaming platform’s store. I believe this poses a huge problem for Epic Games. This could prevent them from making enough money from Rocket League. Then again, they do make a good sum of money from other games. Maybe Epic Games can take this mistake and make something good out of it.

Other relevant information on Rocket League:

Rocket League on Twitch?

So like all popular games nowadays, Rocket League is also very popular in Twitch. Some popular streamers include Athena, an English streamer; Kaydop a French streamer; and Victor Ludgero

Is Rocket League involved in any esports?

Yes! Rocket League is largely involved in esports. The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) is a tournament series held every other year and produced by Psyonix, the game’s developer. In the tournament, players will qualify in North America, South America, Europe, and Oceania, and caps off in a playoff bracket with teams from those regions. The qualification rounds are played as an online all-play-all tournament and the finals are played live in different cities. There’s also a lot of money in RLCS with a prize pool of $1 Million in the World Championship alone!

CONCLUSION

I hope this short article brought you new players up to speed! If any questions regarding Rocket League do arise, be sure to shoot me a message on Discord or send me an email! I will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible!

Discord: Glidest#1099

Email: [email protected]