Competitive driving soccer game Rocket League is now free-to-play, opening its access for new players with a Battle Pass and seasonal support.
In an announcement by developers Psyonix, the game moved to an anticipated F2P format over all systems overnight. It also includes crossplay between its current gen versions and its latest build since first launching in 2015.
According to Eurogamer, Rocket League started to consider taking the price tag off after its developers were acquired by Epic Games last year. The game was also removed from Steam for PC users, sparking a confusion over the game’s distribution. A release later stated the game would reach its own distribution platform, the Epic Games Store this year and continued to be supported on Steam. Psyonix also reaffirmed it would continue growing the game with their own format under the new partnership with the Fortnite developers.
Rocket League has also moved deeper into the competitive scene as an eSports game, hosting its own Championship Series annually with teams from around the globe. Under a casual setting, games industry analyst Rod Breslau wrote on Twitter “it’s a great day for the Rocket League community and for the future of RL eSports.” But Breslau/Slasher warned the game’s free-to-play switch pushes the envelope for other premium games to change. This would give its competitive setting a boost for new players looking to join tournaments.
Other new Rocket League players weren’t so lucky, with a few having bought the game close to its F2P announcement.
CGMagazine gave Rocket League a 7 out of 10 review for its Switch version in 2017, calling the latest port a scaled-down version of the vehicular soccer experience which struggles to pack all of its console features into a small screen. Its portable version also skipped the console-exclusive vehicles, including a Halo warthog and Twisted Metal Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Truck.
Rocket League can now be downloaded for free on all platforms now, with crossplay for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
