UPDATE (September 15th 2020): Rocket League is going free to play on September 23rd.
There will be an all new in-game event called Llama-Rama soon after the September 23rd launch.
Original article (July 21st 2020):
Psyonix, the San Diego video game developer, has announced that Rocket League is going free-to-play (F2P) later this summer.
The free-to-play game update claims to be the biggest one yet and will include major changes to the Tournaments and Challenge systems.
It will also add cross-platform progression for players’ item inventory, Rocket Pass progress, and Competitive Rank, by linking to an Epic Games Account.
Rocket League will also make its debut on the Epic Games Store when it goes free-to-play. It will be identical to the version on other platforms and will feature cross-platform play with all Rocket League platforms.
The game was previously priced at around £14.99.
Once Rocket League adopts the F2P model, anyone who already owns it on any platform (including Steam) will be able to play the game with full support for future updates and features. However, the Steam version will no longer be available to download for new players.
Anyone who has played Rocket League online prior to the free-to-play switch will be rewarded with Legacy status, which includes:
- All Rocket League-branded DLC released before free-to-play
- “Est. 20XX” title that displays the year when the player first started playing Rocket League
- 200+ Common items upgraded to ‘Legacy’ quality
- Golden Cosmos Boost
- Dieci-Oro Wheels
- Huntress Player Banner
Additionally, players who played Rocket League before today’s announcement will receive an extra item, the Faded Cosmos Boost. These items will be awarded to player accounts when the game goes free-to-play.
Fortnite developer-publisher Epic Games acquired Rocket League developer Psyonix last year. Of course, Fortnite is also free-to-play.
More information on the F2P change will be revealed in the coming weeks, including specifics on the changes to the Tournament and Challenge systems.
There’s more info on the Rocket League Rocket League blog and lRocket League landing page.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
